MOULTRIE — The days of a nightclub outside Moultrie could be numbered following the weekend arrest of its operator by federal agents, Colquitt County Sheriff Al Whittington said.

After a number of complaints, including reports of gunshots fired during a dispute this year and loud music, officials finally made a case involving Club Millennium, located on Sylvester Highway.

But it was an alleged alcohol sale that landed self-described club manager Calvin Ray Simpson in jail.

“We’ve been working him really since we took office,” Whittington said. “We had problems there the first night we took office. I talked to Calvin Simpson that night. I told him we would document any incident and if he becomes a nuisance bring it before the Grand Jury and close him down.”

Simpson, 49, 205 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, was arrested at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. He was charged with sale of alcohol without a license and was released on a $2,000 bond.

Simpson, popularly known as “Sweet C,” is accused of selling alcohol to an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Whittington said.

“We’ve sent deputies out there numerous times,” Whittington said. “We’ve had reports of gunshots being fired. We’ve had people who have been injured on the property. It’s a nuisance. It is a nuisance to the neighborhood.”

The club apparently monitors law enforcement frequencies with a scanner, he said, because when deputies are dispatched to the club for noise complaints the volume is low by the time officers arrive.

The sheriff added that a Georgia statute on maintaining a disorderly house allows legal steps against someone who operates an “ill-governed” establishment where gambling, drinking or other behavior disturbs those in the area.

“If Calvin Simpson opens the place again, we’re going to go to the Grand Jury and ask them to close it down and try to indict him on maintaining a disorderly house,” Whittington said. “He’s aggravated everybody in the neighborhood. We’re going to see what Mr. Simpson decides to do.”

No establishment outside Moultrie or other municipalities can sell alcohol because the county has no alcoholic beverage ordinance, County Administrator Marion Hay said.

“In order to sell beer or alcoholic beverages, you have to get a state license,” he said. “In order to get a state license you need a local license. We don’t issue them, and personally I’m glad we don’t.”

— By Alan Mauldin