ST. LOUIS • The owners and attorneys of Lure Nightclub defended themselves Friday against city allegations that the downtown club has been linked to violence and allows drunken, lewd and harassing acts by patrons or staff.

Municipal Judge Margaret Walsh presided over the Excise Commission hearing. Walsh could suspend or revoke Lure's liquor license or shut Lure down.

Assistant City Counselor Dan Emerson represented the Excise Commission and tried to tie a string of problematic incidents to the Washington Avenue club.

He called police officers to testify that bar patrons stopped traffic, brawled in the street, exposed themselves and even shot an assault rifle at officers.

"Generally, everything I've enforced has been in the vicinity of that club," testified a 4th District night patrolman.

But Lure attorneys John Bouhasin and former Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. got officers to admit, time and again, that they did not actually see the suspects leaving Lure before the officers witnessed the events.

"So what did you personally observe coming out of Club Lure?" Bouhasin asked one officer, regarding a June 11 shooting.

"Nothing, sir," the officer answered.

Eventually, city counselor Emerson even withdrew one of the five charges — that a shooting Nov. 5 was tied to the club. Lure, said Bouhasin and Bosley, was not open that night.

And that flawed allegation underscores mistreatment Lure has received, Bosley told the judge. The charges, he said, were "unfounded" and based on "innuendo."

"Where do the owners of Lure go to get their good name back?" he asked Walsh. "This has cost our clients an extremely large amount of money."

There were, however, some lighter moments in the nearly five hours of testimony at City Hall.

At one point, Bouhasin was cross-examining police Officer Kathleen Kueck, who said she witnessed women who had just left Lure exposing themselves as they walked down Washington Avenue.

"Like they would at Mardi Gras?" asked Bouhasin.

"I'm not sure," said Kueck. "I've never worked Mardi Gras."

"Have you ever enjoyed Mardi Gras?" asked Bouhasin, drawing chuckles from the audience.

"Objection!" said Emerson.

"I'll withdraw the question," said Bouhasin.

In the afternoon, several residents also testified that Lure patrons were rude and dangerous, that smoke filled their apartments upstairs from the club and that management was not responding to their concerns.

Lure owner Aprille Trupiano, however, called Lure "one of the most impactful bars in the area," and said it brings business to restaurants and other clubs and employs 75 to 80 people. She said she's working hard to address neighborhood complaints.

"We've done everything we could think of since we were made aware," she said.

The hearing ended about 4 p.m. Judge Walsh asked attorneys to submit their best arguments to her by Sept. 13. She said she would rule soon after that.

A hearing on a separate protest petition, brought by residents who also hope to persuade the judge to close the club, will be held after that.