After-Hours Club Shuts Down Following Multi-Agency Investigation

Posted on 11/24/2025

Defendant: Kaze Lounge

A Franklin County after-hours nightclub that operated without a liquor permit and was the scene of several violent incidents, including a fatal hit-and-run, has closed its doors.
 
Kaze Lounge, housed in a former auto-body business on a plot of land that straddles Mifflin and Clinton townships, was the subject of complaints and investigations by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office; the Clinton and Mifflin township police departments; the Columbus Division of Police; and the Ohio Investigative Unit, which enforces the state’s liquor laws.
 
On Nov. 19, the property’s owner, 3190-92 Westerville Rd. LLC, and its sole member, Randolph Maynard, agreed to a preliminary order to shut down the lounge and ban its operators from returning. A hearing on a permanent injunction is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2026.
 
Beginning in June 2025, Clinton and Mifflin township police began receiving complaints about Kaze, which listed its address on its Instagram account as 3192 Westerville Road.
 
Law enforcement was called to the area 45 times over five months on reports of shots fired, robberies, assaults and other disturbances. Police witnessed fights, large crowds and people passed out in vehicles on the property. Neighboring businesses reported finding beer cans, liquor bottles and trash discarded in their lots.
 
On Oct. 19, a 20-year-old woman was killed and another woman was injured in a 5 a.m. hit-and-run in the middle of Westerville Road near the club. At the crash scene, Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies observed a large crowd outside the lounge.
 
The next day, the sheriff’s office sent several warning letters to Maynard and lounge operator Paingor Jeremiah Ngebeh. Two days after that, the Ohio Investigative Unit — which had launched an investigation into Kaze in August — executed a search warrant at the property, confiscating beer and liquor as well as drink tickets and bracelets.
 
On Nov. 10, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office’s Nuisance Abatement Unit, in collaboration with the other law enforcement agencies, filed a complaint against Kaze, property ownership, tenants, Ngebeh and several other known or suspected club promoters and operators, seeking to have the lounge declared a public nuisance and shut down.
 
Maynard, cooperating with authorities, terminated the lease of the club operators and agreed to the preliminary order confirming the closure and trespassing the operators from the property.
 
The other defendants named in the complaint, including Ngebeh, Abdul Karim Kuyateh, Monique Lashay Trice, Daniel Kamara and Ransford Conteh-Caulker, are banned from the property. At the Jan. 15 hearing, they could face receiving a permanent injunction against any illegal liquor or nuisance activity throughout the county — violations of which include fines, jail time or a prohibition on owning a liquor permit.
 
Quotes
 
“After-hours establishments that operate outside the law create extraordinarily dangerous conditions,” said Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Shayla Favor. “A liquor permit is a safeguard that carries with it inspections, accountability and a responsibility to protect the public. The Kaze Lounge shows how quickly an unregulated environment can spiral into violence, disorder and tragedy.”
 
“This nightclub was operating without a liquor license and putting the people of Franklin County at risk,” Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said. “We are grateful for the collaboration and hard work of our investigators, the Prosecutor’s Office, and our partnering agencies over the past several months to make this closure a reality. We want to send a clear and unmistakable message that establishments operating outside the law will not be tolerated in Franklin County.”
 
“These operations rarely involve just one person,” said Sarah Pomeroy, Deputy Director of the Nuisance Abatement Unit. “Venues like Kaze often rely on a revolving network of promoters who move on to the next place when problems escalate. This closure stops the activity at this location and makes clear that those responsible won’t be able to set up the same operation somewhere else.”