Customers say Back-40 Club's
treatment is heavy-handed
By Eric B. Pilgrim,
Stars and Stripes
Eric Pilgrim / Stars and Stripes
Back-40 Club owner Dave Carlson's puppy is a big hitg with his neighbors in Friedberg,
Germany. The neighbors say they are now pleased with Carlson, at right in photo, as the
new owner and that they feel they can talk to him any time problems occur. |
Wednesday evening starts like most nights at the Back-40 Club.
The club opens at 6 p.m., and many of the local regulars sit around grumbling about
having to endure constant searches by U.S. military police, sometimes within minutes of
each other.
Much of the grumbling shifts to one particular search on Tuesday that ended in three
arrests. MPs already had been by a few times, but returned again and hauled away three
soldiers in handcuffs, creating a big ruckus.
"There’s no reason to come over here with nine MPs," says Andrea
Eichelberg. "Nine MPs in here for three soldiers, and for what? This is so
senseless."
Eichelberg works as a part-time bartender at the Back-40 Club and her boyfriend is
stationed in Friedberg, but she says she won’t let him even think about visiting her
while she’s working. She’s afraid he’ll get caught.
She sits next to her friend, Silke Höfler, who swirls a drink in her hand.
Like Eichelberg, Höfler works at the club and has a boyfriend stationed in Friedberg,
but unlike Eichelberg, Höfler sometimes lets her boyfriend come in. He was one of the
three arrested Tuesday.
"They took my man out in handcuffs, like he murdered someone," Höfler says.
"And that’s so embarrassing, walking through downtown with everybody looking at
us like we’re all criminals. We’re not. They ain’t fightin’, they
ain’t stabbin’ anyone."
Christian Werner, a German tattoo artist, nurses a beer as he talks with Ali Gonultas,
a Turkish man. Back-40 Club owner Dave Carlson, a former U.S. soldier, hovers nearby.
Above their heads hang flags from each nation.
Three Americans, two men and a woman not a part of the military community, sit quietly
talking in a booth not far away.
"I like this place because they have no drugs, no fights," says one of the
men, James Schuler. He is part of a three-man band currently producing an album. He sits
with his wife and another band member, talking about the coming release.
"If there were fights, we would not come into this place," he said. "I
would certainly not bring my heavily pregnant wife here."
Carlson comes up and shakes his hand. Schuler passes him a compact disc with a demo
song on it. Carlson gives it to the bartender to put into the sound system.
Two hours pass and still no soldiers, or policemen, show.
People come and go. Eventually, the door opens and a soldier slips in. Chad.
Military police had arrested him twice before for hanging out at the Back-40 Club. In
fact, he had been released just Monday, after spending six weeks in the Mannheim military
prison and says he is to be chaptered out of the Army in a week.
Another soldier quietly slips in. John, once Carlson’s old roommate at the 1st
Battalion, 36th Infantry, follows. He was one of the three the MPs arrested Tuesday.
Despite the arrest, he is back.
"My platoon sergeant wants to chapter me and has threatened me with a year in
Mannheim," John says. "But I want people to know what the hell is going on.
Plus, my friend has his business and I want to support it."
Then, two MPs show up. The soldiers vanish as Carlson walks outside. Sgt. Alan George
says they actually had sent seven MPs in on Tuesday. Not nine.
"We’ve got a lot of new people in our platoon, so we’re [on-the-job
training] them," George says. "It wasn’t a show of force or anything."
Then they slip up the street and around the corner.
Another two hours pass and the noise level stays constant inside the club. No drugs or
fighting are evident.
Carlson walks outside again. As he rounds a corner, four MPs march down the street
toward his club.
"Here we go again," Carlson says, head slumping. "The problem is not
with the MPs. They are just doing their jobs. The problem is higher. I’ve got a good
name in this town, but I’m losing business."
This time, the MPs go in and pull out a soldier.
He tells a female MP he had just gone in to use the restroom. The patrons in the club
verify his story. She questions him and suggests he should urinate in the street rather
than go in the Back-40.
"You can’t [urinate] out here," the soldier says. "That’s
disrespectful to the folks who live here."
"When you go in, you disrespect the Army," she counters.
The other MPs go back in and bring out Chad and John. Up against the wall, both are
searched and handcuffed. They then are marched down the street and into police cars. The
first soldier is warned and turned loose.
Carlson hangs his head in frustration.
George turns and shakes his hand: "Thanks for cooperating again. Sorry about
this."
Back to July stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
