A man sued the Tacoma bar where he was shot. His attorney is ‘pleased’ the case settled
A shooting survivor has settled his lawsuit against The Alleycat Patio & Lounge — a Central Tacoma bar where two people were killed and three injured following an altercation in November 2023.
Levar Couch, one of five people shot inside the establishment, sued the bar in February and alleged that it failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the shooting that should have been foretold by years of violence in and around the business.
The suit was dismissed on Jan. 9 in Pierce County Superior Court after a settlement was reached two days before Christmas, according to court records.
Attorney Rob Wilke, who represented Couch in the case, said Tuesday that he could not reveal the amount or terms of the confidential settlement.
“We’re pleased that it resolved,” Wilke said in a brief interview.
Messages left for attorney Gabriella Wagner, who represented The Alleycat, were not returned. In a December court filing seeking to dismiss the case, Wagner wrote that the bar had no history of gun violence or similar incidents.
Couch had gone after midnight to the bar, 2708 6th Ave., on Nov. 5, 2023, to play pool with James Reha, a 35-year-old friend. In a deposition, Couch testified that after talking to a group of women, he exchanged words that he believed to be playful banter with a fellow customer, Alante Bryan Peterson.
When Peterson became “super aggressive” toward Couch, Reha tried to defuse the situation but then might have hit or pushed Peterson onto the ground, according to Couch’s testimony in court records. When Peterson got up, he allegedly began shooting with a handgun he grabbed from a side pouch resembling a fanny pack.
Peterson, 29, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder days after he allegedly fatally shot Reha and then fired indiscriminately into the bar, also killing 34-year-old Monic Swan and injuring Couch and two others. Peterson has denied the charges, and his criminal case remained ongoing as of Tuesday.
Couch, 39 at the time he sued, was shot in the groin area, according to the complaint. The lawsuit accused The Alleycat of failing in its duty to protect him from criminal harm or take any reasonable measures to prevent unsafe activity, alleging that bouncers hadn’t checked customers’ bags for weapons.
The suit noted several incidents reported in the bar since 2022, including customer assaults, and troubling issues outside or near the business such as guns being fired into the air and fights.
Court records show that the bar’s owner, a few months before the shooting, had requested police presence due to concerns in the area not exclusive to the establishment.
The Alleycat, which has since changed names and been renovated under the same ownership, had taken proactive safety measures, according to Wagner’s December court filing.
Staff had kept a logbook documenting individuals who were not allowed inside because they had been unruly or involved in events in the bar or surrounding neighborhood bars, the filing said. The News Tribune found no indication in court records that Peterson was on the list.
The Alleycat also posted several signs warning patrons that firearms were prohibited, but Washington law doesn’t require that businesses conduct bag checks at the door, according to Wagner’s filing.
“Because the shooting could not have been foreseen by Alleycat, it owed no duty to protect Plaintiff from the unexpected conduct of Mr. Peterson,” the filing said. “Not only was gun violence on the restaurant’s premises generally unforeseeable, but the rapid escalation of verbal sparring between Plaintiff and Mr. Peterson which directly preceded the shooting was specifically unforeseeable.”
Charging papers in Peterson’s criminal case noted that a female bystander’s cellphone video appeared to show the gunman yelling back and forth with a man described as Couch. Peterson apparently became annoyed after the man who fit Couch’s description allegedly tried repeatedly to insert himself into conversations with the bystander and other women, the charging papers said.
Wagner’s court filing summarized the interactions between Couch and Peterson prior to the shooting, saying there is no evidence to suggest that Peterson’s alleged attack was anything more than an isolated incident that had likely been personally motivated.
“The two first came into contact after Plaintiff had started speaking with some women, one of whom was Mr. Peterson’s girlfriend. Mr. Peterson taunted Plaintiff for not buying one of the women a drink, at which point the men started exchanging verbal jabs,” the filing said. “Plaintiff mocked Mr. Peterson’s shoes and haircut; Mr. Peterson mocked Plaintiff’s jacket. Though Plaintiff interpreted the exchange as playful banter, it escalated quickly.
“Mr. Reha, who had entered the bar in the interim, intervened and knocked Mr. Peterson to the ground. When Mr. Peterson rose, he suddenly brandished a gun, shot Mr. Reha, and then turned the gun on Plaintiff and others.”
The Alleycat opened in 2019 and had just celebrated its fourth anniversary when the fatal shooting occurred. In February, when the suit was filed, Wilke told The News Tribune that Couch was facing a long and slow process toward recovery.
“This lawsuit is all about making sure this doesn’t happen again and making sure the public is safe,” Wilke said at the time. “This was a tragedy that affected so many lives.”
