Methuselah Likely to Face Punishment From Licensing Board After Shooting
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It was around 11 p.m. on Nov. 25 when an expensive Mercedes or Jeep pulled up to Methuselah Bar & Lounge at 391 North St.
A man hopped out covered in tattoos, with a beard and long hair, and wearing expensive jewelry, according to Shane Tatro, who was working the door that night. Tatro said he asked the man for identification and was given an out-of-state license listing his birthday as 1981. The man entered and got a drink from owner Yuki Cohen.
"He immediately brought out his license. I had no reason to question it," Tatro said.
About a half hour later, the man left and was shot right by the doorstep of the bar. Police identified him as being 17 years old, half the age of the identification Tatro says he saw.
Both Tatro and Cohen swear the juvenile looked well over the age of 21, so much so that Tatro said he didn't ask for a second form of identification, which he typically does for those from out of state.
Even if that is the case, the bar will still likely face sanctions for serving someone underage and for the shooting at its doorstep. Exactly what those will be is yet to be determined as the Licensing Board waits to see if it can gather more information about discrepancies of the man's appearance and licenses.
"I believe there is going to be some penalties issued to Methuselah's bar. I'm willing to wait, as councilor [Dana] Doyle and [Thomas] Campoli suggested, to see what the investigation brings," Licensing Board member Richard Stockwell said.
Police Lt. Michael Grady said the 17-year-old's shooting was likely gang related. He doesn't believe the shooter was inside of Methuselah at the time but that "associates" of the shooter were. The victim walked into the bar, had a drink — as has been shown on the surveillance footage provided to police by Cohen — and then left after 20 minutes. It was then he was shot right outside.
Grady said the victim had an identification card on him, but that was his brother's and listed his age as being in his early 20s. Police have video of the incident from both Methuselah and a neighboring video and are still investigating the circumstances around the shooting.
"Mrs. Cohen has cooperated, even bringing the IT guy in to help get the best quality," attorney Timothy Shugrue, who is representing Methuselah, told the Licensing Board.
Shugrue says the company has already begun looking into purchasing card readers to ensure licenses are real and will be putting in a higher-quality surveillance system. But those steps will be helpful for the future and aren't expected to curtail any punishment.
The Licensing Board has a history of issuing suspensions and reduction of hours when it comes to similar incidents. The former Chameleons was slapped with a 21-day suspension in 2014. In 2015, Johnny's Beach Club had its hours reduced after a man allegedly shot himself in the foot inside the bar and, previously, had had a license suspension for an underage drinking issue. And earlier this year, Lachs Lounge had its license suspended for seven days as well as its hours reduced after a man was shot in the parking lot outside and patrons were found to be "overserved."
"To not do something here when we did something with Lachs Lounge and Johnny's and Chameleons, I think would be a disservice to others who own bars in the city," said Licensing Board member Diane Pero.
But exactly what that suspension or hour reduction will be is unknown.
Methuselah is arguing that it had acted properly and the incident wasn't a case of mismanagement. The board will wait to see if it can see the video and photos of the victim to determine whether the mistaken age was genuine or not.
Methuselah is willing to provide video to the board, but police don't want that to become public record. Shugrue tried to present photos of the victim to help his case claiming the man appeared old enough but that, too, was objected to by Grady.
Shugrue argues that the bar did everything it could. There is crime in Pittsfield, there was plenty of staff in the bar, and the man was carded. After the incident, the video was given to investigators and when detectives had trouble pulling it up at the station, Methuselah's information technology person was sent to the station to help.
"There are people who try to circumvent the law and we understand that," Shugrue said.
Stockwell, however, says the age difference between 35 and 17 is dramatic and no so easily confused. The license found on the victim for his brother in his early 20s makes more sense, but Shugrue says he isn't sure if that was what was presented to Tatro. Tatro says he remembers the name and the birthdate.
"My problem is that Mr. Tatro said it was 1981, it makes the person 35-year-old and he is 17," Stockwell said. "That to me would have raised a red flag."
While Doyle said it doesn't really matter what the man looks like, he is still just 17 and being served at the bar. That is a violation of the license.
Methuselah doesn't have a clean record. Cohen faced the Licensing Board a year ago after the bar was twice cited for overcrowding. In that same citation, police said they had received anonymous complaints that the bar was excessively noisy and serving underage patrons.
"I can't prove underage drinking. It was an anonymous complaint. We addressed the overcrowding but the underage drinking, we couldn't do anything about that," Grady said.
In the next month, Methuselah has agreed to upgrade its surveillance system and will return to the board in January. In the meantime, the board is hoping the investigation is moved along and more facts about the circumstances will be released.
Tags: alcohol license, license board, shooting,
