Rostraver restaurant closed under deal with district attorney

A popular Rostraver restaurant and tavern that was the site of a double shooting early Sunday morning has been closed.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said Friday in Rostraver her office reached an agreement with owner Debra Hardy Maley to permanently close Sweeney’s Steakhouse at 1713 Rostraver Road, before the July 4 holiday.

Two men were shot outside the tavern shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday.

“It is my determination this is the only way to abate the problem that has brought violence to the community and placed law enforcement officers in great danger,” Ziccarelli said.

If the restaurant owner had not signed the agreement, Ziccarelli said her office was ready to seek a court order to close the restaurant on the grounds that it was a public nuisance.

The locks were changed to prevent anyone from entering the establishment.

Maley, who is the ex-wife of 84 Lumber Co. founder Joe Hardy, had owned the business for 26 years and tried to sell it through Hardy World LLC of Bentleyville for $1 million. She announced this week she was closing the restaurant.

Under terms of a consent agreement, Ziccarelli said any potential buyer of the property must go through her office to gain access to it.

A spokesman for Hardy World, a real estate development firm, declined to comment. Maley could not be reached for comment.

Rostraver Township police Chief John Christner said there have been several incidents at Sweeney’s over the past six months.

Christner said that in responding to the shooting Sunday, his officers were confronted with “scores of people” outside the tavern as they were trying to tend to a wounded man. Nineteen shots were fired, and officers on the scene did not know if there were other guns among the people in the crowd.

“It’s a tough crowd,” Christner said of the patrons.

One man, Darius R. Hunter, 26, of Monroeville, has been charged with two counts of criminal attempted homicide and aggravated assault. Dimond Jackson, 28, of Charleroi, is accused of driving the getaway car and fleeing from police before crashing on a Rostraver road. Jackson is charged with fleeing, eluding police and driving under the influence.

The suspects remain in the Westmoreland County Prison pending a hearing before Rostraver District Judge Charles Christner on Wednesday.

Chief John Christner said that one of the victims has been released from the hospital, but the other remains hospitalized.