Gas station, owner sue Milwaukee over revoked license
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee gas station that was the site of an August shooting has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Common Council.
In September, the Common Council voted to revoke Teutonia Gas & Food's license. Security guard William Pinkin was working there and is accused of shooting and killing Isaiah Allen after Allen walked out of the store without paying for snack cakes.
For months, signs have been plastered on the doors calling for justice. Allen's family has been asking people to sign a petition to get the place permanently closed.
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"That’s my firstborn son," Allen's mother Natalie Easter said.
After the gas station's license was revoked, its owner sued the city and the council.
Gas station shooting near Teutonia and Roosevelt, Milwaukee
Court filings indicate the gas station's license was revoked more than nine months before it was set to expire, and states the city cited Allen's death and other incidents "dating back to 2019" as its reason for revocation. The lawsuit, however, alleges the city did not provide "specific reasons" for its actions as required by law.
"Why? That's it," the victim's father Troy Allen said. "Just why?"
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The gas station's owner said he received a summons seven days before a Common Council hearing, according to the lawsuit, which alleges there was not enough time to "allow for adequate preparation and investigation…to present a proper defense." The hearing proceeded despite several objections from the plaintiffs in the case, court filings indicate.
"Despite several of the alderpersons voicing their biases openly, not one alderperson recused themselves. Rather than act as neutrals, they played the roles of witness, prosecutor, judge, and executioner," the lawsuit states.
Meanwhile, Allen's family continues to look for justice.
Fatal shooting near Teutonia and Roosevelt, Milwaukee
"Nothing in no store is worth someone's life," the victim's aunt Charisa Allen said. "Nothing."
The lawsuit seeks compensation to be determined at trial for violation of the business and its owner's constitutional right to due process.
Pinkin has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide. His trial is set to start early 2024.