WESTFIELD – The License Commission heard details of a proposal from Gaetano (Tommy) DeNardo last night to address safety and security concerns which led to the board’s revocation of his license following a three and a half hour hearing held last May during which testimony of violations was presented by city police and fire officials.
The special 6 p.m. meeting was to consider a settlement offer proposed by DeNardo who has appealed the local board’s action to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. The commission members asked questions to clarify DeNardo’s proposal to address specific safety concerns during the brief open part of the meeting.
The commission then voted to go into executive session, which lasted until 7:45 p.m. when the board returned to open session.
The Commission declined to act on the proposed settlement and found that the conditions proposed by DeNardo were not satisfactory to assuage their concerns for public safety.
There is a hearing scheduled for the third week of October before the ABCC at which DeNardo can petition the state board to overturn the decision of the local commission.
DeNardo is also facing criminal charges in Westfield District Court as a result or the investigation by police and fire officials. DeNardo was arraigned in August on charges of making a false police report, disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct. DeNardo entered not guilty pleas to those charges. DeNardo is slated to return to count on Sept. 25 for a pre-trial hearing.
The Commission heard details of four incidents at the May 29 hearing, finding that DeNardo was in violation of both state liquor and local liquor laws and regulations in three of those incidents based on the information provided by police officers and Deputy Chief Patrick Egloff, the department’s fire prevention and arson investigator, who testified that night before the commission.
Two of the violations involved disturbances which began inside the bar and escalated into assault and battery incidents when the combatants were escorted outside, resulting in an 18-year-old Springfield man being charged with simple assault and battery in one incident and two city females charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct. One of the women was also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a shod foot, when an officer responding to the disturbance observed her kick another female being held on the ground by her fellow assailant.
The third incident occurred after police and firefighters responded to a smoke detector alarm in the bar when a motorcycle gang was holding a birthday party for a member who brought his motorcycle into the bar, then apparently braced the front tire against the stage and burned the rubber of the rear tire into the dance floor, triggering smoke detectors.
DeNardo told emergency responders that a unidentified patron had set off a smoke bomb then fled the building.
