In addition to the photographs, Candelora had with him Commissioner James C. Higgins Jr. as a witness.
"We've been complaining and the commissioner came with me that night I took the pictures," Candelora said. "We saw two kids coming out of Smokey Joe's and then (they) came to my shop."
The photographs were taken at 12:45 a.m. Oct. 18, Candelora said, and will be turned over to township solicitor Eugene H. Evans, who promised to take affidavits to the Delaware County district attorney's office.
Evans said he needed sworn statements and testimony to persuade the district attorney to declare Smokey Joe's a public nuisance, "and maybe we can close the place."
Higgins said he saw the evidence, and his indignation triggered a spirited exchange with Paul Ryan, proprietor of Smokey Joe's.
"We saw the antisocial behavior that goes on there," Higgins said. "We saw two kids urinating. . . . The complaints of the residents are legitimate."
No sooner had Higgins finished talking than Ryan stood in the audience and challenged him.
"Are you insinuating, are you insinuating that those youths came from Smokey Joe's?" Ryan asked. "What is this, a kangaroo court?"
"I was an eyewitness to the operation of Smokey Joe's before and after (the picture-taking), and there is no doubt that those kids came from that bar," Higgins said, his voice rising.
"I saw the kids come out of Smokey Joe's," Candelora interjected.
Ryan pointed at Higgins and, his voice cracking, said, "Why would I be responsible for what a customer does when he leaves my establishment?"
"I asked for some evidence and he (Candelora) told me he saw the kids coming from Smokey Joe's," Higgins said.
"Do you have his name, do you have his name?" Ryan asked.
At that point, Commissioner George M. Aman 3d, a lawyer, told Ryan that the owner of a drinking establishment is responsible for the behavior of customers "even when they leave the premises." Aman, who has pushed for the closing of Smokey Joe's, cited the Pennsylvania Liquor Code and the Common Law of Nuisance as the legal basis for such responsibility.
After Candelora offered his photographs, Evans told the commissioners, "I don't want to go to the district attorney unless I have a case. I want to make sure I have sufficient evidence; it can't be flimsy. The photographs will help."
Evans did not say when he would turn over the affidavits to the district attorney.
For the last year-and-a-half, residents near Smokey Joe's have complained about vandalism, late-hour disturbances and public urination and defecation on streets and in the entrances to nearby homes. Parking signs have been uprooted, antennas of residents' autos have been bent, and beer bottles and other debris has been strewn on streets and sidewalks, according to testimony before the commissioners by residents.
The residents have blamed the alleged vandalism and disturbances on patrons of Smokey Joe's.
Ryan has attempted to control patrons after they leave his establishment. He has hired off-duty Radnor police officers to patrol his property and around the building from 11 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In addition, an on-duty police officer is usually posted on Louella Drive from 1:15 to 2:30 a.m. on those nights.
