Published in the July 15, 2015 edition

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

LYNNFIELD — A decision by the selectmen on whether to suspend the liquor license held by the Yard House Restaurant, 340 Market St., for two alleged violations in May was postponed until the board’s Aug. 17 meeting.

The sanction under consideration by Selectmen Chairman Phil Crawford and Selectmen Tom Terranova and Chris Barrett is a four-day suspension of the liquor license, with two days suspended for two years. Only if another violation occurred within those two years would the additional two-day suspension be imposed. Crawford said he would want the suspension to occur on either a Friday or Saturday night.

The board also wants to require the Yard House to pay for private detail officers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in perpetuity. They were advised by Town Counsel Thomas Mullen that such a requirement cannot be imposed as part of the liquor license suspension process, but the Yard House and the town could work out an agreement on their own.

As part of its defense, Yard House counsel and management indicated that over 500,000 patrons had been served from the Lynnfield location without any other incidents.

Acknowledging that this is the first hearing for a liquor license violation at any establishment at MarketStreet Lynnfield, Barrett spoke in favor of the detail officer requirement recommended by Crawford. “We are setting a precedent that one is too many, and one eight days later is certainly serious and something we will not tolerate in Lynnfield. If you are serving 500,000 patrons, you can incur the cost,” Barrett said.

The postponement of the decision until August 17 will give Mullen time to work out an agreement with the Yard House and the Lynnfield Police Department on those details. Yard House representatives indicated that they would be amenable to an arrangement of private details.

As the liquor licensing authority under Mass. General Laws Chapter 138 and Code of Mass. Regulations 2.05(2), the selectmen have the authority to impose sanctions against an establishment for violations of its license, which includes the suspension of the license for a specified number of days or revocation of the annual license granted to the Yard House that authorizes the sale of alcoholic beverages on its premises.

Appeals of a vote by the board on a liquor license suspension would go before the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (ABCC), not to the town, Crawford said.

No arrests made

The alleged violations occurred eight days apart and generated incident reports by the responding Lynnfield police officers, but no arrests. Both cases involved allegations of the sale of alcohol to intoxicated patrons, both of whom were of legal age.

According to testimony provided at Monday’s hearing by the officers involved and Police Chief David Breen, the first incident occurred on Friday, May 1 when officer Scott Fitzemeyer was working a police detail at MarketStreet Lynnfield and was called to the rear lot by mall security where he encountered an intoxicated man with his car keys in his hand attempting to find his car.

It was just after 9 p.m. and Fitzemeyer testified that the man stated he had left the Yard House and also admitted that he had had too much to drink, should not be driving, and gave the officer his car keys. The officer stood by until a family member or friend came to pick the man up, but Fitzemeyer also stated that while they were waiting for his ride the man indicated he wanted to return to the restaurant to continue drinking.

Ed Mclean, general manager of the Yard House, testified that he was working that evening and it was a busy night, but he did not recall seeing this man in his restaurant, nor did other employees he asked. Mclean stated that it was alert Yard House employees in the rear of the restaurant who observed a man staggering in the parking lot clicking on his key fob who reported it to him. Mclean said he spent 15 minutes with the man to ensure he would not drive away until security arrived and told him he would call the police if he did attempt to drive.

The second incident occurred on Saturday, May 9 and involved a medical call to the Yard House for a man who had passed out in the bar about 30 minutes after he had arrived there with two other friends.

Breen testified that because the man was transported from the restaurant to the hospital via ambulance that HIPPA laws apply regarding his identity and his medical condition, and since there was no criminal investigation involving the man, his department is limited in the amount of information it can obtain or reveal.

The responding officer on scene May 9 was James Caponigro whose report stated that he was on patrol in the area when he was called to the restaurant around 10:45 p.m. Management met him and brought him to the bar area where he stated he observed a man who appeared to be passed out.

“It took a lot of yelling and a sternum rub to get him to respond,” Caponigro told the board. “His friends stated they had been there for a couple hours and had been drinking before they got to the Yard House. They said he was in that state for 20 or 30 minutes and slipped over edge.”

Asked by Terranova if he had been able to speak directly to the server that night, Caponigro said, “No, it became more medical and we had to get him out of there.”

Town Administrator Jim Boudreau told the board that “because the patrons were not arrested there is no criminal investigation so the police cannot require that the bar tab be turned over.”

The bar tab voluntarily produced by the Yard House indicated that three Bud Lights had been purchased on the group tab in a 30-minute period, according to their outside counsel, Timothy Perry.

The server that evening, Ashly Blazewicz, testified that the man’s friend was a regular at the Yard House and that all three men appeared to be fine when they were served by her.

“I carded all three. They acted like they would stay all night,” she said, adding that the bar remains open until 1 a.m. on Saturdays. Shortly thereafter, she was assigned to another section of the bar. She said about 15 minutes later she was called over to that area of the bar again and noticed her manager was holding gloves and a mask. She recalled that the man appeared to her to be “pale, was sweating and was vomiting on the bar.” She added he had only drank half of his beer.

Perry and Mclean went to great lengths to explain to the board the additional training they have provided to their staff since these incidents occurred that exceed requirements under the law. They added this training has been expanded to include any staff members who will have direct contact with patrons, even those who do not serve beverages, to increase the number of eyes available to observe for signs of intoxication.

Perry also explained that the electronic scheduling service they use for their staff is designed to alert them when their certifications are due to expire 30 days, 14 days and 7 days in advance. The system will automatically take a server off the schedule if those certifications are not properly renewed and recorded.