Gun violence claims showcase Roxbury restaurant

The owners of Rudi's Resto, a key part of a city effort to revitalize the area along Melnea Cass Boulevard, closed shop on Sunday, victims, they say, of the aftermath of a wild car chase that started in a parking garage across the street last October.

"We've lost our shirts, we've lost everything we own," co-owner Julian Maria said this morning at a hearing before the Boston Licensing Board on the incident.

His co-owner, Mark Koeck, said the restaurant went into "a financial nosedive" immediately following the chase, during which one officer fired at Johnell Gilmore's car to try to keep him from plowing into Rudi's patrons leaving for the night. The problem was not patrons - many of whom, he said, made a point of showing their support by coming back - but landlord Corcoran, Jennison, which he said actually locked the restaurant to give the impression the city had shut it down, Koeck said. Kocek said it took an expensive legal fight to re-open and he and Maria were simply unable to recover.

Maria, a native of the Seychelles, said the experience has shaken his faith in the American dream. "I'm having second [thoughts] whether I'm really protected in this country," he said.

The city gave the Koeck and Maria two loans to open and then operate their Massachusetts Avenue restaurant as part of the Crosstown project. Koeck said the restaurant had just become profitable when the chase happened, attracting a clientele of urban professionals - and local politicians - who appreciated not just its food but its Friday-night art shows and jazz performances.

Koeck said Gilmore was in the restaurant before the chase. "He was well behaved, drank lightly and was well dressed," he said. He noted that gunshots allegedly fired by somebody in Gilmore's car came from a parking garage across the street and had nothing to do with Rudi. That night, he said the restaurant had six security guards on duty and a detail officer - as well as a birthday party thrown by officers from the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department.

"Sometimes stuff happens, with the best plans laid out," he said.

Now, all that's left, he said, is to find a buyer's for Rudi's remaining asset, its liquor license.