At the Schiller Park bar, a murder, a stabbing and a drive-by. But he's a mayoral campaign donor, and remains open.

Last November, the Sway Bar in Schiller Park was cited by village officials because its alley was marked with graffiti. But in April, when a man was murdered there in a possible gang-related shooting, the business remained open and faced no fines or suspensions.

This is even though police records reveal that the April 19 killing of Jonathan Vallejo, a 38-year-old River Grove resident, was the third violent incident at Sway Bar in five years, according to the Chicago Sun-Times .

In 2021, someone fired shots at the business at 9420 W. Irving Park Road from outside, with the bullets narrowly missing the people inside.

In 2019, a customer was stabbed and hospitalized following a fight within the establishment.

Sway Bar has made several campaign contributions over the years to the political fund benefiting Mayor Nick Caiafa, who also serves as the northwest suburb's liquor commissioner and has considerable authority over city businesses that sell the alcohol. Those contributions include $370 a month before Vallejo's killing, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.

Records show a number of the city's bars and restaurants contribute to Caiafa's Schiller Park First political party, but Caiafa says that doesn't translate into favors or freedom of movement. He says he downgraded another local bar's liquor license from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. following problems there — even though that bar donated to his campaign.

Last week, he said he had not made a decision about the future of Sway Bar because he did not yet know whether the killing was a sign of problems “inherent at the bar or a chance incident.” .

“We are waiting to see what the police will come up with,” he said at the time.

This week, he said he now plans to meet with the bar owner “and ask some serious questions” because “we are concerned” about what happened the night of the murder and other incidents.

“I didn’t know anything about the stabbings,” Caiafa said. “I wanted to bring them in first, get some answers and make a decision whether we go for suspension or revocation, or maybe we come to an agreement.”

Caiafa said he sent a letter to local businesses with liquor licenses two weeks after Vallejo's killing, urging them to attract a good customer base or risk a crackdown on their ability to operate.

“You should keep in mind that any customer who commits wrongdoing can result in anything from a citation to the revocation of your license,” Caiafa wrote. “You should strive to have customers who would be as welcome in your home as they are in your establishment. »

Former Schiller Park Mayor Barbara Piltaver, who runs a community newspaper in the city, says Caiafa should have acted more aggressively against Sway Bar.

“I would definitely suspend them or pull the license and say, ‘You need to attract a different clientele,’” she says.

She lost to Caiafa in the 2017 election and is considering running against him again, in part, she says, because of her belief that Caiafa puts politics ahead of public safety.

The owner of the Sway Bar, who asked not to be cited by name, says his customers are mostly locals and that since the 2021 drive-by, with the exception of the murder, “it's very quiet » in terms of incidents and calls to the police.

Vallejo's family says he had gone to the bar that evening to attend a birthday party, and police are investigating whether the shooter was part of that group, which authorities say could include members current or former members of the gang.

The owner of the Sway Bar said the people at the birthday party were “not regulars or people we know,” and that the murder is “the last thing I wanted to see happen in the establishment and in our neighborhood…”. . . it hurts . . . it's horrible.”

Police have requested an arrest warrant for a suspect in the Vallejo killing, but said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office would not approve it, saying it would not there was not enough evidence.

Foxx's office said: “This matter is the subject of an ongoing police investigation and no charging decisions have been made. »

Vallejo's family says he grew up primarily in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood and was a father who operated a trucking business that delivered cars from car dealerships to buyers.

A relative said that on the night of the shooting, Vallejo finished work and decided, “I'm tired, but I'm going to go” to the birthday party to “show some love.”