WESTFIELD – The Westfield Police Department conducted an alcohol compliance check in which underage volunteers attempted to purchase alcoholic beverages at local restaurants, package stores and bars, snaring four package stores and three restaurants in the sting operation.
Five of the seven establishments cited for violating the state liquor laws by selling to or serving alcoholic beverages to person under the age of 21 appeared at public violation hearings conducted by the city’s License Commission last night.
The commission can take punitive action against licensees found in violation of state liquor laws ranging from a letter of reprimand to a license suspension. The Commission’s punitive policy guidelines call for a three-day suspension per violation.
Three East Main Street restaurants were charged with serving beer to the underage police volunteers and summonsed to the violation hearing. All three were cited during the sting which was conducted on Friday, March 28, 2014, one of the busiest night for food serving establishments.
Two of the restaurants, K’s Restaurant at 318 East Main St., which was charged with two violations and Applebee’s Restaurant, which located in the Westfield Shops, was charged with one violation of state law. The commission voted to send both businesses letters of warning and advised the managers to institute protocols to prevent a reoccurrence of underage serving.
The third Restaurant, the Panda House, located at 589 East Main St. in the Little River Plaza, was found to have served two of the under-aged police volunteers which led to a much more severe penalty because of a similar incident in which police responded to a report of underage alcohol consumption last year.
The commission acted as the result of a police report, dated April 14, 2013, in which two groups of under-aged patrons were found to have been served alcohol.
The commission, in the 2013 incident found that the staff served nine under-aged patrons and imposed a three-day suspension for each violation. The commission will require the owner Cuiying Lin to surrender the liquor license for 10 days, while 17 days of the suspension will be “held in abeyance” for one year.
Last night the License Commission voted to suspend the restaurant’s liquor license for the 17 days held in abeyance and to add another six days which will be held in abeyance for the next year.
The commission also found that two package stores had violated state law for selling alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21 years of age and voted to send warning letters to Mr. Phipps on North Elm Street and City Package Store on Meadow Street.
Both businesses will be required to submit a written policy, within 10 days, to the commission addressing how the business addresses the issue of employees selling alcoholic beverages to under-aged patrons.
Two other package stores did not respond to the summons to appear before the commission Monday night. Ryan’s Package Store of Franklin Street requested a continuance to the Commission’s June 16 meeting, while Westfield Liquors failed to respond and was issued a second summons, which if ignored again may result in a license suspension.
