The irony of this story

alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CLAYTON • A Bellefontaine Neighbors man was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison in the 2014 fatal shooting of a bar bouncer in St. Louis County.

St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael T. Jamison sentenced Tony T. Johnson, 29, to prison in the Nov. 23, 2014, killing of Brandon Ferguson.

Court records say Johnson shot Ferguson, 28, in the parking lot of the Cuetopia Billiards & Sports Bar as Ferguson and friends fled in a silver Chevrolet Impala from a large fight in the parking lot. The bar is at 11824 West Florissant Avenue.

Some of you may know the owner, Harold Johnson. The irony is he moved away from the previous location because it was too dangerous. Now his bouncer got killed. It was a black pool hall, most of the time I was the only white guy in the place, but the regulars were all good guys and I always had a good time. A guy named Tom Ferry who is now deceased and used to post under the username oldhasbeen used to play at the previous location sometimes although it wasn't his "home room".

Glad I moved away from St Louis - too much crime.
 
I guess I am missing the irony.

What would you expect from that area? Safest part of this story is that he received only 7 years.
 
I thought Harold Johnson passed away a while ago. Hopefully I am wrong, but i remember hearing that.
 
Al,

Very saad end for both involved. The perp however gets to leave jail in seven years. The victim only lives in our memory.

On different note, thanks for mentioning "oldhasbeen". Although I never had the honor to meet or play him, Tom was a legend in the pool world. Shared private messages with him several times before his passing.

Lyn
 
Skippy27 said:
I guess I am missing the irony.

What would you expect from that area? Safest part of this story is that he received only 7 years.
Click to expand...

The irony, at least for me, is they moved to this location because the previous location was in a dangerous part of town. I played at both locations but the previous location in Baden was closer to where I lived and it was dangerous. If you are familiar with the problems in Ferguson, the current location isn't far from there and it is a better part of town than the previous location.
 
I guess we all have a different tolerance level for risk.

I'm a transplant to St. Louis and love the city. I'm originally from San Francisco, while Gail is from just north of Boston. And after we both got out of the USAF, having been stationed at Scott AFB across the river in IL, we decided to stay put and we have never regretted the decision. NYC, Chicago, Miami, LA, SF, NOLA, and much smaller cities all have crime problems. So I guess for some, moving out to nowhere -- with no art, sports, shopping, restaurant scene, nightlife, etc -- is the answer.

As has been mentioned, Harold died several years ago from severe complications of diabetes. He was a St. Louis pool institution and would often hold 1pocket tournaments at his room, Billiards on Broadway, out in the Bellefontaine neighborhood. No doubt, the area was a bit sketchy, huge cemetery on one side, railroad tracks on the other, but most pool players have been in far worst.

I played at Harold's many times, for tournaments or just to match up. Sometimes I'd be the only white guy in a packed room and never felt unsafe. And that's one thing I've always liked about pool -- it's egalitarian nature. As pool players, all are welcomed.

Harold didn't abide any BS and he protected his pool room and the players that visited. And truth be told, I suspected he was always packing. On more than one occasion, after a night of playing 1pocket, (usually a bit lighter in the pocket) as I was ready to head on out, Harold would peek out the door at the parking lot, give me all the all clear and I knew he'd stay vigilant until I was in my car.

It was a true loss for the entire STL pool community when we lost Harold.

Lou Figueroa
 
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