A federal grand jury subpoena delivered recently seeks village of Dolton’s records regarding the embattled St. Patrick’s Steakhouse and Bar’s property at 15022 Lincoln Ave.
The subpoena, provided by the village via a Daily Southtown Freedom of Information Act request, seeks inspection reports and communications between village officials, former and current building tenants and property owners as part of a criminal investigation.
Dolton Trustee Jason House, who beat Henyard in the Feb. 25 Democratic primary for mayor, said Monday he was unaware of the details of the subpoena but said the village will comply with the federal investigation.
The village is commanded to appear before a grand jury or provide the documents by March 17.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by St. Patrick’s to secure liquor licenses for its planned banquet hall/event space and restaurant, rooftop bar and retail liquor store was continued Friday in Cook County court. In January, Henyard, in her capacity as Dolton’s liquor commissioner, was found in indirect criminal contempt for dragging her feet on the licenses.
Max Solomon, the attorney representing Henyard in numerous lawsuits, filed a motion Friday seeking to withdraw as her attorney in the St. Patrick’s lawsuit. The attorney representing St. Patrick’s owner Tiffany Kamara objected to the withdrawal, saying there’s a pending motion for sanctions directed toward Henyard and Solomon.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on May 2 before Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan.
Mayor Tiffany Henyard at the dias during a Dolton Village Board meeting Dec. 2 2024. (Vincent D. Johnson / for the Daily Southtown)
Kamara bought the St. Patrick’s property from Kamal Woods, Henyard’s boyfriend and a former Thornton Township employee, for $200,000, according to the original lawsuit.
The subpoena requests the village’s correspondence with Woods as well as with Kamara’s company, TAK Group Investments LLC. They also ordered “documentation of complaints launched against the subject property” and “documentation of negative or derogatory findings from inspections of the subject property.”
Federal investigators have twice before visited Dolton’s Village Hall in search of documents, including expense reimbursements and other payments made to Mayor Tiffany Henyard. No charges have been filed.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
