The Eager Beaver bar in Appleton, Wisconsin has been operating for four years, and while neighbors have been unhappy in the past because the bar’s too wild and noisy, they’re now trying to shut the place down after a bartender was attacked after one of the establishment’s weekly lingerie nights.
Lingerie night is exactly what it sounds like: An evening during which all the bartenders serve customers in their underwear. While this may be fun for everyone involved (although I once went to a bar where this was happening and the server and I talked about how uncomfortable it was for the both of us) at least one man didn’t understand or care that lingerie night was not an open invitation to harass and then try to kidnap a bartender on her way to her car.
The man in question, Dennis Mitchell, had apparently attended a lingerie night when he tried to kidnap the unnamed bartender by putting a plastic bag over her head. He quickly ran when neighbors saw what was going on, but those who live near the bar want it shut down because they believe it’s a public nuisance. According to the Post-Crescent, police have been called to the bar 69 times since 2011. That seems like a lot of police calls, sure, but why are we focusing on lingerie night and not on the fact that some guy thought that it would be okay to try to kidnap a woman? If anyone is the problem, it’s him.
Bar owner Christina Coon removed all traces of lingerie night from both the bar and the bar’s Facebook fan page for the safety of the bartenders but says the attack was an isolated incident. She also says that she’s not ashamed of lingerie night or trying to hide it and that any demands that the bar be shut down are personal attacks. She says that the bar is often used as a landmark by the police and is not always the center of an incident.
“I asked the police personally why there were so many, and they said it’s because it’s a landmark spot,” Coon said. “Once a girl was on her way home down the street and she was punched by another female. Instead of going home alone, she came back to the bar, and so police came to the bar.”
One woman who lives nearby disagrees:
“Carter’s Caboose has always been down the street, and there has never been a problem with that establishment,” [Ali] Koestner said.
You hear that, everyone? Everything is better at Carter’s Caboose. I just want to point out that I have never been to Wisconsin, but their bar names are next level. I would have a hard time deciding where to drink!
Mitchell faces up to 20 years in prison for the attempted kidnapping and an unrelated charge of soliciting a prostitute. He will appear in court on July 24.
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