The License Commission placed a North Elm Street bar on probation for two years following a public hearing for violations Monday night.
The commission took action because the bar had been placed on a six-month probationary period last August for over-serving an intoxicated female patron who was involved in a motor vehicle accident on North Elm Street in the area of the McDonald’s restaurant shortly after leaving the establishment on the Clay Hill section of North Elm Street.
The License Commission conducted the public hearing last night after being notified by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) of a second incident of over-serving to an intoxicated patron. That violation was documented during a law enforce sting operation conducted on September 16, 2011 at the Whip City Patriot Bar & Grill, 287 North Elm Street, by ABCC investigators and city police.
The ABCC investigator observed a male who displayed signs of intoxication including speaking loudly with slurred speech, staggering, and at one point putting his hand into a ceiling fan in an attempt to make the fan go faster.
The investigator said the intoxicated patron was within five feet of the bar staff, five employees, and that one employee laughed when the patron lost his balance and bumped into another patron seated at the bar. The patron ordered six “grape bombs” drinks which were placed on the bar in front of the patron.
The ABCC imposed a six-day suspension of the bar’s liquor license, holding four days of that suspension in abeyance for two years, provided there are no further violations, following a March 6, 2012 hearing in Boston. The bar owners opted to pay a $1,020 fine in lieu of the two-day suspension.
The bar owner Patricia Tangredi and manager Bo Tangredi admitted Monday night that their staff served the patron, but argued that he was buying the drinks for other patrons, not for his own consumption. They also said that all staff members are TIPS (Training and Intervention Procedures for Servers) certified, but that the training doesn’t “stress” serving an intoxicated patron buying drinks for other patrons.
“We went to Boston and pleaded guilty to letting a person who was intoxicated person buy drinks for somebody who wasn’t,” Bo Tangredi said. “None of the shots purchased went into that (intoxicated) person. The TIPS course never emphasized that an intoxicated person can’t buy drinks for someone else.”
The September violation observed by the ABCC investigators occurred within weeks of the city’s License Commission Aug. 8, 2011 finding that the incident pertaining to the female patron involved in the motor vehicle accident was a violation of state liquor laws. The commission imposed six-month probation, holding any possible suspension in abeyance.
“You are back before us for a violation of your probation,” Commission Chairman Thomas R. Mihalek said. “It’s pretty cut and dry that you violated the conditions of the probation. The ABCC guidelines for a second violation are for a five to seven-day suspension.”
The commission voted to impose a five-day suspension, held in abeyance for two years.
