Police say Pittsburgh bar owner hired locksmith to open padlocked nuisance property

A Penn Township man who owns a Pittsburgh bar that was padlocked Friday was arrested over the weekend after authorities said he hired a locksmith and entered the building, according to court papers.

Derrick Hemby, 60, was released on his own recognizance Sunday on felony charges of trespass and solicitation.

Club Energy in Homewood South was one of two bars padlocked Friday by members of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department under a court order. District Attorney Stephen Zappala petitioned the court to stop business at both because they were operating without liquor licenses and had become nuisance properties, according to the sheriff’s department. The other location padlocked was The Lobbi in Knoxville.

Court orders on Friday granted temporary injunctions that prohibited liquor sales and authorized sheriff’s deputies to secure the properties.

Signs were posted on the doors, and Hemby was notified of the situation, according to court papers.

On Saturday, a state police liquor enforcement officer drove by Club Energy on Kelly Street and noticed the signs were missing from the door and someone was going in and out of the building. A man who identified himself as a locksmith told authorities that he was contracted by Hemby around 2 p.m. to change the locks on the front door and inside the building, according to court papers.

The locksmith told police that he did not see any paperwork on the door that indicated the establishment was shut down by court order. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 20. Hemby did not have an attorney listed in online court records and he could not be reached for comment.

Hearings on both injunctions are set for Wednesday.