SerpApi.Org
Owners of an Elk Grove nightclub where two men were killed in a shooting last year must pay more than $53,000 in unpaid rent this week or forfeit their lease, according to a notice posted outside the business.
The three-day notice to pay or quit was posted Monday outside the Z Town Asian Gastro Bar & Restaurant at 8409 Elk Grove Florin Road, in the shopping center just south of Calvine Road in Elk Grove.
The notice was signed by Gerry Schmelter, a Carlsbad-based attorney representing the property’s landlord. The owners of the Z Town nightclub owe the landlord $53,828.69 in unpaid rent and related charges, along with $1,012.50 in attorney’s fees and costs in accordance with the lease within the last 12 months, according to the notice.
The notice instructs the nightclub owners to pay a total of $54,841.19 within three days or the landlord will declare a forfeiture of the Z Town’s lease. The nightclub owners would still have to pay the money owed after forfeiting the lease, according to the posted notice.
It’s unclear what this will mean for the business. Owners of the business on Tuesday did not respond to an emailed request for comment from The Sacramento Bee. The attorney for the landlord also did not respond to a request for a comment.
Z Town is co-owned and run by eight friends all in their 20s: Erik Tran, Alex Tran, Thao Nguyen, Tony Le, Vince Tran, Nghia Nguyen, and two more silent partners, according to a Bee story published in January 2024.
The nightclub was opened at a location previously occupied by a Chinese restaurant, Uncle’s Chinese Cuisine. The Z Town group owners agreed on a buyout deal and took over the lease, completely rebranded and opened their gathering spot on Halloween 2022.
The Nov. 2 shooting just before closing at the popular Elk Grove nightclub reportedly stemmed from an argument inside the business, Elk Grove police detectives said at the time. Gunfire erupted about 1:30 a.m. when the nightclub was crowded.
Phuc Minh Vo, 34, of San Jose and Kim Kha Huynh, 18, of Chino Hills, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, were killed in last year’s shooting inside the nightclub. Police said two other men wounded in the shooting were later released from the hospital.
Investigators identified Roderick Bernard Randall, 44, as the shooting suspect. Randall had been on the run and considered armed and dangerous until January, when Texas authorities notified Elk Grove police of his arrest in that state on suspicion of providing false information to federal agents.
Randall will be extradited to Sacramento County once his federal case in Texas concludes, the Elk Grove Police Department has said. Randall will then be booked into Sacramento County Main Jail on two counts of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
As of Tuesday, Randall remained listed in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, though the location where he’s being held was not listed.
In March, Randall was awaiting federal sentencing at an ICE detention facility in Texas after admitting he was caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border using a false identity.
