I don't have good news about Chuck Markulis, the part owner (with his son) of Hard Times Sacramento. He is in very serious condition in the intensive care unit of Mercy San Juan Hospital. He suffered major trauma to his head and leg. He is still comatose and has some internal head injuries. How serious they are has not been determined. At best, he faces a long and arduous recovery, and at worst he will be disabled for life. Chuck is a 70 year old man, so his prognosis is not as good as it would be for a 40 year old.
Chuck was one of the best friends any pool player ever had. He put on absolutely the best poolroom tournaments I ever saw (or worked on). We used to get world class fields at the original Hard Times in Los Angeles. Chuck would do anything for a pool player to help them out. He had tremendous respect for the talent they possessed.
The incident was a serious gang war with multiple participants. The fight spilled over from the poolroom into the parking lot. The gangsters were using short billy clubs to administer a beating to two individuals they were feuding with. When Chuck tried to break it up, one of the gangsters jumped in his pick-up truck and ran him down. He then crashed through the wall into the poolroom, dragging a security guard along. The security guard was fortunate to only receive major leg injuries.
When people started screaming that Chuck was down, someone from inside the poolroom emerged with a gun and shot and killed one of the gangsters. This caused the rest of them to flee. The police have rounded up several suspects.
This was not a minor street fight. Four people are in the hospital and one is in the morgue. Chuck will likely never return to work at Hard Times, and it may take years for him to learn to walk and talk again.
I felt that it is important that if people are talking about something, they should know what really happened. Covering up the seriousness of the crime is not the answer.
My prayers are for Chuck, that he recover from this horrendous experience and enjoy the rest of his life. He has worked hard for so long, he deserves a rest. That is all that matters to me now. What happens with the poolroom is secondary. Chuck Markulis and I were partners in producing some of the greatest tournaments ever in Southern California. We got along great and he was a pleasure to work with every day. Anything I asked for to make an event better, he would say yes to immediately. He would look at me and say "Let's do it!" And we damn sure did!
When he regains consciousness I plan to go visit him. I'll let you know how he's doing. Almost all the top players know Chuck and have tremendous respect for him.
