3 homicides have occurred near this downtown Lexington garage. More security is coming
The city of Lexington’s parking authority has hired Fayette County sheriff’s deputies to increase security at a downtown parking garage after two shootings and another fatal beating happened in or near the garage in recent months.
Two sheriff’s deputies will be stationed in the garage on the corner of Short Street and North Broadway starting this weekend from midnight to 4 a.m., according to Jim Frazier, the chairman of the LexPark board. LexPark runs the city’s parking garages. Its budget comes from parking fees. Those deputies will work Friday and Saturday nights.
“The parking garage is lit throughout the night and it has cameras,” Frazier said. “But it’s just not enough.”
In addition, the parking authority will pay for two sheriff’s deputies to man Tandy Park, next to the renovated former Fayette County courthouse, from Wednesday to Sunday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Frazier said the total cost to LexPark is not yet known.
“I am getting calls about this every day,” Frazier said of downtown merchants who are frustrated more isn’t done to address the uptick in violence in the popular restaurant and bar district.
Dudley Webb, of the Webb Companies, which owns or manages several downtown properties, said the problems in downtown have largely occurred after midnight. The people involved largely know each other. These aren’t random acts of violence, Webb said.
“It’s not unlike what happens in the suburbs,” Webb said. The coronavirus pandemic hurt downtown restaurants, businesses and hotels. But people are now returning to downtown in large numbers, which is great for businesses, he said. With Keeneland opening in April and more events coming to downtown, business owners are expecting a great summer.
“But we have to realize that our downtown is now 24-7,” Webb said. “We are doing so much better. The restaurants are doing well. The hotels are doing well. The issue is not during the day or the evening. It’s largely after 2 a.m. The only way to deter that is to have an active police presence. We are doing what we can do to make sure that it’s safe for all of us.”
Efforts made to keep Lexington garage from being center of violence
The move comes after one man was killed and another injured at the LexPark parking garage at the corner of West Short Street and North Broadway early Saturday morning. It’s the third fatal assault in that area in the past nine months.
On Oct. 25, John Tyler Abner, 31, died of blunt force trauma after being assaulted by Benjamin Call, 39, in the garage, police said.
On June 19, Raymar Alvester Webb, 30, died after being shot in a parking lot near North Mill and West Short streets. Brandon Dockery, 32, is accused of shooting Webb and was apprehended July 28 after being wounded in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement, according to police.
Frazier also heads the board of the Downtown Lexington Management District. Due to the uptick in shootings and violence, it is also paying for Fayette County sheriff’s deputies to patrol downtown starting in April. Those patrols will continue through November. The management district is paying $60,000 of those costs. The city of Lexington is chipping in $35,000.
Lexington police have also stepped up patrols in that area but are short-staffed. It is facing a shortage of officers.
Frazier said the management district’s budget, which is generated through an additional property tax on downtown properties, is tight. The majority of its funds go to pay for a management group that provides cleaning for downtown and ambassadors.
The money for the additional sheriff’s deputies will come from a grant program that is typically given to businesses to improve lighting and business exteriors.
The management district had originally asked for $100,000 to help pay for sheriff’s deputies to patrol downtown but the city gave it $35,000.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 1:05 PM.
