In wake of shooting, Highwood officials require earlier closing time at Santi’s

The City of Highwood has temporarily scaled back the operating hours of a local bar following an early June altercation on its property that resulted in nearly 20 gunshots being fired.

Highwood Mayor Charlie Pecaro announced during the City Council’s Tuesday, Aug. 4 meeting that the city has indefinitely reduced the hours at Santi’s Gardens, 324 Green Bay Road, from 3 a.m. until midnight.

According to Pecaro, those changes were effective as of last week and city officials will review the establishment’s new hours in “exactly one month.”

As previously reported by The Record, close to 20 gunshots were fired on June 7 at and near the Highwood bar.

Highwood Police Chief Dave Wentz at the time confirmed that police responded around 3 a.m. that morning to Santi’s to a report of gunfire, discovering 18 shell casings as well as bullet holes in parked cars and the building at that address.

City Manager Scott Coren said during a July City Council meeting that there was a fight inside Santi’s during the early morning hours of June 7 and following that altercation there were shots fired from an individual who returned to the bar after previously leaving.

Wentz previously told The Record via email in June that the incident happened as the bar was closing and no people were outside the building when shots rang out. Police have not been able to confirm how many patrons were inside the space when the incident occurred.

Highwood police stated no one was injured as a result of the altercation.

The two suspects involved in the incident fled the scene in a black SUV, police reported, adding that the suspect car reportedly then crashed near Old Elm and Sheridan roads, near Highwood’s border with Lake Forest.

Police at the time apprehended the driver, who reportedly called police to report the crash, while the second man fled on foot, according to information from Wentz in June.

Highwood police worked with the State’s Attorney’s Office to file charges and issue an arrest warrant for the individual who fired the gunshots, officials said in July.

City officials believe the suspect lived at a residence in the 300 block of Prairie Avenue. Through communications with the property’s landlord, the suspect was not someone who was authorized to live there according to the property’s lease agreement, per Coren.

During both Committee of the Whole and City Council meetings in late July, several residents addressed alderpersons with concerns related to community safety after four gun-related incidents had occurred in Highwood and near its border over a two-month period.

Some residents who spoke during public comment specifically asked the city how it would respond to the incident at Santi’s.

Pecaro, during a brief statement made at the Aug. 4 meeting, said the city met with Santi’s ownership and noted the business will be “making some changes to the way they hold security.”

In addition to the reduced hours, Santi’s is also “in the process” of securing a bouncer, Pecaro said, while noting that the business was “happy to work with the city.”

“Your comments … we do take them seriously and we do take action on them seriously,” Pecaro said.

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