FORT GREENE — Ralph's Bodega on Lafayette Avenue is closed again.
This time the popular bodega was shut down by police from the 88th Precinct, according to owner Ralph Jawad.
Jawad said that on Thursday, March 14, a group of policeman and a lawyer entered his deli at 89 Lafayette Ave. and gave him notice that he had to shut the place down.
"They started searching," he recounted. "[An officer] asked if I had anything. I said no. They looked around anyway."
Jawad's lawyer, Eric Rothstein, confirmed that the police department brought a lawyer from the NYPD Legal Bureau to close down the bodega. He would not give further comment while the case is still open.
Jawad ran into trouble on Oct. 18, 2012 when an undercover policeman allegedly bought two Ziploc bags of marijuana for $20 from the well-liked bodega owner as he worked from behind the counter. Police later found more bags of pot and vicodin, xanax, morphine, and oxycodone, according to the Brooklyn DA. The search also recovered at least one firearm.
Jawad and two employees were arrested and taken into custody. They were later released on bail.
A trial date has not yet been set.
The 88th Precinct did not respond to several calls for comment.
