Voltaire Beach House closes its doors after accusations of stolen paychecks

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — After former employees at Voltaire Beach House in Ocean Beach accused ownership of not paying them, the restaurant shuttered its doors last week.

“We haven’t been paid in a month so the place was shut down without us knowing and it all came down to a big surprise for us, so we’re all kind of struggling at the moment,” said Rachel Bohrman, a former employee.

However, the primary manager, George Somers, told KUSI Thursday it’s the workers who were ripping him off.

“‘Forty overtime hours in two weeks? Look at all my employees, all my employees have overtime hours,” Somers said. “They don’t clock out. They’ve been ripping me off.”

Among other things, Somers is accused of stealing items that do not belong to him by loading them into a truck and driving off.

“He came in earlier today, all of the stuff over there, he took it out, he stole it, he put it in a van, he put it in the back of a pickup truck and now he’s gone,” said Meryl Hamilton, the co-owner of The Artist Outpost.

“Him not paying us, I had to move out of my house and I’m staying on my friend’s couch now because I can’t pay my rent,” Jeremey Souza, another former employee, stated. “And I’m not the only one he’s burdened.”

Along with other issues, Somers was accused of assaulting Souza, putting him in the hospital.

“I almost had to get stitches, I broke my thumb from them just kicking and punching me,” Souza told KUSI. “They tried to break my leg and my ankle, stomping on me.”

The Artist Outpost has become collateral damage. Both the art studio and the beach house are owned by the same person.

“We pay them our rent religiously every month, they did not pay it forward to our master landlord and now, today, not only are they getting evicted but we’re getting evicted,” Hamilton said.

What should have been a smooth transition is now a police matter.

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