Key West Bar Gets Probation in Underage Incident
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Key West is on probation for the next six months after an incident of underage drinking back in November.
The License Commission had continued a hearing on the bar to consult with the city solicitor on whether charges could be brought. The opinion was that it was up to the District Attorney.
Chief Mark Bailey at Tuesday's commission meeting said he did not believe criminal charges applied in this instance because no one at the bar "knowingly or intentionally" supplied the alcoholic beverages.
"I feel that the bartender thought that the person was over 21 so it's not like she knowingly provided alcohol to them, to a person under 21. She just assumed that the person at the door was doing their job," he said. "So I don't feel that we can come after them criminally, or the bartender or the doorman, because the doorman did not give them alcohol."
The incident involved two 20-year-old men who had been found inside the State Street bar after one of the men's mothers had first taken him out of the bar and then called police when he went back inside. Both times, it appeared neither man had been carded despite a bouncer who was supposed to be scanning identification cards.
The men had been drinking beer and doing shots. The chief said the bouncer was caught in a lie because he told the police he didn't recognize the men, but was seen on the bar's video taking their drinks when police showed up.
Commissioner Peter Breen hammered on the point that if the intoxicated men had gotten behind the wheel of their car, a tragedy could have occurred. He referenced several instances of intoxicated driving, including three deaths, over the past 15 years — none of which involved Key West.
Owner Michael Bloom took offense that the bar was being implicated in incidents that had no bearing on its operations and in possibilities that didn't happen.
"You scroll out like all this stuff that you don't know. You don't have a crystal ball. You don't know. I don't know," he said.
It's occurred and occurred and occurred, Breen said, adding that Bloom had been called to account on a liquor violation by the Alcohol Beverages Control Commission last year. Bloom said that had been a Zoom call with no evidence on an issue not about underage drinking. Breen said this would be the third time in three years.
Both men raised their voices and then argued over pointing at each other as Commissioner Rosemari Dickinson tried to calm the proceedings.
"We take it very, very seriously. With so few places to go, you have to be on your game at all times," Bloom said. "So I apologize for that. That night, I said repeatedly, it should never have happened, and I regretted that the way it played out. And I faced the God's watches, the bartenders, it's on me."
The last time the bar was in front of the commission was four years ago following a shooting outside the bar. The victims and suspects had gotten into an altercation in the bar prior to the shooting. The bar's hours were reduced for months.
Bloom noted that Key West had followed the recommendations of the commission, hiring bouncers on busy nights, and had continued to close early.
"As far as I'm concerned, the clock starts today. It's a new year," said Dickinson. "We need to to make a decision on what happened that night, what sort of violation we know he's made."
Breen asked about having an officer on detail some nights but Bailey pushed back on that.
"If you put a cop at any location, it's single activity, it's going to be astronomically expensive as well, and it's taking my officers away from what I would like them to do, just more actively patrolling the streets," the chief said, adding that even spot checks would require two officers being pulled from duty.
He suggested having another manager on busy nights and checking that the number of scans recorded match the number of people in the bar.
"I think it was just one person, the bouncer, that really ruined the whole night for everybody," the chief said.
Bloom said he would take whatever discipline the commission meted out.
"I'd like to keep the place running, running smoothly, right, without a bunch of problems and then move on, maybe I'll be lucky and sell it and somebody else can worry about it, because I'm old and I gotta move on," he said, adding he'd been operating for 40 years.
Commissioner Michael Goodson motioned for a three-day license suspension, held in abeyance for six months, during which time if there are no violations, the suspension would be voided.
It passed unanimously and Bloom was advised to press upon his employees the need to be extra careful in the bar's operation.
Tags: license board, alcohol violation, bars, taverns,
