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GREENSBORO — A strip club that has remained on the city’s radar for possible seizure under the state’s nuisance abatement law is being looked at again after a weekend homicide.

Police said they are in the early stages of examining criminal activity associated with the Sugar Bare Lost Dimension club at 501 Farragut St. to see whether the city has enough evidence to merit its closure through civil action.

At 5:15 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the parking lot of the club on a shooting call and found Carlton Smith, 30, of High Point dead.

The death is the second homicide at the club in less than three years and added to a list of issues associated with the club, police said.

“We are going to look at the call volume and see if it will qualify for a nuisance abatement seizure,” said Capt. Christopher Walker, who oversees the southern patrol division.

“When we have a major incident at an alcohol establishment, we look at it to make sure if they are taking the right security measures to prevent criminal activity.”

Walker said that according to preliminary statistical data, the club has been the site of three major Part 1 crimes in 2009. Part 1 crimes include homicides, aggravated assaults, rapes, robbery and property crimes including auto thefts, larceny and burglary.

There were five such calls at the club in 2008, 16 in 2007 and four in 2006. The review process looks at each incident reported at the club individually to see the circumstances and whether it could be used in the nuisance abatement case.

The city looked at seizing the club in 2007, but efforts slowed after the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office declined to pursue the case, saying such action is the responsibility of the city’s legal department and that there wasn’t enough serious crime activity to seize the business.

“I think it was a combination of the two. We have worked through the issues of getting it into court,” said Dwight Crotts, assistant police chief. “We now have to look at the numbers to see if the numbers support doing a nuisance abatement.”

Crotts said that part of the review would include meeting with the club’s owners about problems to see if they can be corrected.

In Sunday’s incident, police Capt. Janice Rogers said, investigators believe Smith was killed as he attempted to stop a carjacking of a friend’s vehicle.

“(Smith) went over there because he knew the victim in the car, and we believe he was trying to help them,” Rogers said. “The suspect randomly fired shots and hit him.”

The shooter made off in a four-door, 2008 dark blue Dodge Charger with 22-inch, five-point chrome wheels and a 30-day temporary North Carolina tag.

Club representatives could not be reached for comment Monday night.

Anyone with information about the crime is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000. Callers remain anonymous and are eligible for a cash reward.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com