MOBILE, Alabama (WKRG) – A West Mobile nightclub has announced that it will be moving only to patrons 21 and older, days after an 18-year-old was kidnapped from its parking lot.

Troubadours posted a statement on Facebook, claiming in part that the decision to change the age requirements came from speaking with local sororities, the USA Solidarity Coalition and the mobile police.

“I hate it for our clients under the age of 21 who got it right, but the consensus of most of the people on campus we spoke with is that this is what they wanted. As well as obviously some of our older customers, ”the owner of Troubadours wrote on Facebook on Monday.

Early in the morning of Friday, September 17, an 18-year-old was kidnapped at Troubadours on Tanner Road. The teenager was then located at the University of Southern Alabama and taken to a hospital for assessment. Later Friday evening, Morris Linson Jr., 34, was arrested in Escambia County, Fla., And charged with second degree kidnapping.

Earlier Monday, Troubadours released a full statement on the incident. Read the statement below:

We would like to make a statement on the incident that occurred in the parking lot on Thursday evening outside of Troubadours. It is a terrible situation for everyone involved, especially women. But it has also been a difficult time for our staff, our owner and our business as we have been criticized on social media.
Therefore, as staff, we struggled to find the appropriate answer as we did not want to give out any information that could harm the victim or the search, so we remained fairly silent. We also didn’t want to appear callous or as if we were a shameful victim. I know some people were upset with our initial post on IG, but to be clear, we were only responding to “misinformation” that said ridiculous things, but we were not denying the incident that had happened or pretend someone was not telling the truth. I’m sorry if it happened that way as it was not our intentions.
Now that she’s safe at home, we think it’s important to get more details and facts due to a lot of misinformation that has been posted on social media and even on news stations. And to answer questions that we are able to answer since we receive so many.
First of all, we are very happy and grateful that the woman involved was found safe and sound and returned home. We can’t imagine what it was like for her or her family. And they are in our prayers and thoughts. I don’t want to talk much more about her to ensure her privacy. But she will remain in our prayers.
We take this type of thing very seriously and Troubadours have fully cooperated with the Mobile Police Department assisting them with video footage to help them understand what happened and to help locate her and the guy involved in it. the incident. We go above and beyond every night to keep our customers safe. We pay a lot of money for four policemen on leave to watch our parking lots and the area around the building. We also have more security personnel than any other place in town. Safety and customer experience are our number one priority.
But as a business, like any business, there’s not much we can do. The exact details are still not extremely clear and those that are cannot be shared publicly due to an open investigation. But I’ll say I don’t know what else we could have done as a company to prevent that from happening. The person who was arrested was never inside the Troubadours, was not a member of the Troubadours, and was not even a resident of Alabama. He also never set foot in the bar that night. He stayed in the parking lot the whole time. This is about an individual who took advantage of a place he knew to be one of the busiest places in town that was said to have a ton of people. To clear up another part, there was only one individual involved and he was arrested. So any other information is 100% false.
It could have happened at Wal Mart, the mall, or any other busy place in town or any town for that matter. The world today is a crazy place. There are sick people, so you should always be aware of your surroundings. And ask for help if you need it. Our security staff or our cops on leave are always ready to help if you need it, even if it is just escorting you to your vehicle or calling an Uber.
Our staff struggled with this because of some of the crazy things people said on social media. Our bartenders are mostly college students trying to earn money to pay their bills and survive college. Security staff mostly work full time during the week, then come and spend three more nights in the moonlight on the weekends to earn money to support their families. Our owner is a single dad who runs this business to support his family. And no one hates what happened more than our staff because of how important our customers are to each of us. They are our livelihood. And we love them all.
Regarding the age questions we receive. We thoroughly check IDs at the door. We do not tolerate underage drinking under any circumstances and take it very seriously! We are vigilant about finding underage drinking every night and have well trained bar and security staff. We will remove underage drinkers and potentially even quit if they attempt to do so at any time at our facility. And also if we catch them, we call the parent and ask them to come and get the child. So for anyone who says we don’t monitor, that’s sadly misinformed. But the reality is also that these days fake IDs are easily purchased online and it’s a battle every site faces. Our staff are one of the best trained gatekeepers in the state to deal with this. And every night we turn down many customers trying to cheat the place.
Finally, we will continue to be proactive with our security measures because Troubadours has always been aggressive when it comes to making improvements to our business. And it will continue. Also remember that we are always ready to accompany anyone to their vehicle if they are alone or for any reason. We also pay multiple Uber’s per weekend to make sure people get home safely, so while we encourage everyone to drink responsibility if you think you’ve eaten too much, we’ll be happy to help you take a ride or Uber.

Troubadours – Mobile Alabama