So today I hear on WCAP that the Licence Commission wants to roll back the Lowell bar hours to 12am. Knee Jerk reaction is what I call it. Now instead of looking at the problem establishments they decide to punish all of the citys establishments. I started a discussion on rolling back the hours to 1am to conform with the majority of the city and towns in the Merrimack Valley to curb the influx of young people that run to Lowell to catch the last hour of drinks. I hope all this is, is a negotiation play to settle on a 1am closing.
I have received some heat from local bar owners and musicians and I am one also, but I believe this is not anti business but for the better good of the city. The Commission I believe is taking this 12am closing a little to far
I'm afraid to ask....What to you think?
Rolling back the hours for everyone only continues to reward the bad apples. The sanctions should be on the bars who admit underage drinkers, over-serve their clientele, and refuse to call the police when fights break out. (The exact situation from Fortunato's last week). I would suggest we don't even have to go back to 1am--just have the bars agree not to admit any new customers after 1am, and stay open as usual. Then, for each and every infraction, crack down on the offending bar like a ton of bricks--reduced hours for the first offense, suspended licenses for the second, and revocation for the third. Three strikes you're out. The cops can make their rounds to record the offenders, and I'm betting our heads will spin at the speed everyone gets back to legitimate business.
ReplyDeleteThis needs to be looked at more closely by the police (incident reports,police logs) to find out and punish the repeat offenders not a bar that is on the outside of downtown or even in downtown thats not in those reports.One example could be Santoro's restaurant with all there problems the city didn't try to shut down all restaurants just them how is that working?
ReplyDeleteHI Mike
ReplyDeleteSantoro's policed themselves after the last incident by closing down early for a while...so far so good.
Thanks for your comments.
I should have also included the bar owners and bartenders in my comment how they handle a situation when it first starts up can and will go along way in how it plays out. I don't agree with the 12:00 closing at all. Only hurts the bars that are being more resonsible. 1am not sure if that helps downtown i think most people from other towns are already there by 12pm/1am.
ReplyDeleteSeems like they were just agreeing with prominent citizen (and friend of the Lowell Sun) George Duncan who openly called for midnight bar closings in Lowell on February 9th.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lowellsun.com/ci_19926798?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com
It seems like someone needs to seriously look at more than just the newspaper headlines. Does anyone know who called the Police to report the fight at Fortunato's ? Did the fight occur in the bar or the restaurant portion of the establishment (the bar area is very small - only seats about 12 people) ? Was anyone charged with any alcohol related offenses (underage drinking, drunk and disorderly, public intoxication) or was the incident a lesson about what happens when patrons come to Lowell from Cambridge and Lawrence?
It would be nice if the blog of record put out all of the information.
It would be nicer if the President of the Enterprise Bank didn't publicly call for shutting all bars at midnight in the city.
Seriously, the police report was published. The fight was in progress inside the bar when it was observed by beat cops on the street outside. What you may remember as the restaurant portion of the establishment is where they put on their nightclub events--the police counted over 150 people in there, and estimated as many as 200 were inside. 14 people were charged, only 4 of whom were from Lowell. 3 of them were underage. The Sun reprint of the police report has gone behind their pay wall, so I can't link it here. I'll cut and paste from the Lowell Police Facebook account. Hopefully it fits under the character limit for comments.
ReplyDeleteFrom Lowell Police:
ReplyDeleteNumerous individuals were arrested in the City earlier this morning. At 1:30 a.m. every on-duty Lowell Police Officer was summoned to the Downtown area to assist officer’s who had requested immediate back up. Officers from Lowell, Dracut, Tyngsboro, Umass Lowell and the Massachusetts State Police responded. This incident started inside Fortunato’s, also known as Club 44, which is located at the corner of Palmer and Middle Streets. Two officers stationed on the corner noticed a large fight occurring inside the bar. Officers observed a large group of people fighting on the dance floor, throwing chairs, tables and beer bottles. Officers called for assistance and entered the establishment to restore order. Once inside, officers realized there was only one point of entry/exit for the establishment, as the other doorways were locked from the inside. As a result, back-up officers who were assisting the initial officers on the scene had difficulty entering the establishment.
Inside, officers observed approximately 170 to 200 people inside the establishment. At this point, some patrons began trying to leave. Officers assisted those who wished to leave. While some officers assisted patrons to leave safely, other officers were focused on ending the fights that were occurring within the establishment. At this time, patrons began throwing bottles at officers who were attempting to affect an arrest inside the bar. Several individuals became violent towards the officers and resisted arrest. At this point, several individuals who had left the bar attempted to get back into the establishment in order to continue fighting. These individuals were subsequently arrested. This incident led to the arrest of 14 individuals and three Lowell Police Officers were injured.
After order was restored a Club employee informed officers that the Club had hired a private promoter named “DJ Money” for the evening, however, he had no additional information on this individual. He also stated that the Club was hosting a private 21st birthday party. He continued to explain to officers that he believed several of the guests were under the age of 21. Those 21 and over were required to wear a yellow wrist ban, while those under 21 had their hands marked with a black marker. Officers noted that of those arrested; only 2 had yellow bands, while the remaining individuals did not have any markings on their hands. The employee also explained to officers that the owner was not at the scene and he had no way of contacting him.
The arrest info from the Lowell Police:
ReplyDeleteMiguel Fernandez, age 25, from Lawrence, MA. He was charged with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon (beer bottle) Affray, Disorderly Conduct, and Resisting Arrest.
Pierre Pierre Clemat, age 21, from Boston, MA. He was charged with Affray.
Nilsson Devasconcelos, age 33, from Andover, MA. He was charged with Affray and Disturbing the Peace.
Jason Sanon, age 20, from Cambridge, MA. He was charged with Disorderly Conduct.
Aser Honore, age 26, from Lowell, MA. He was charged with Disorderly Conduct.
Ccshron Brown, age 23, from Lowell, MA. He was charged with Affray.
Carlos Feliz, age 20, from Lawrence, MA. He was charged with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest and Disorderly conduct.
Jovan Siri, age 18, from Lowell, MA. He was charged with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Affray and Resisting Arrest.
Brousseau Normil, age 19, from Cambridge MA. He was charged with Affray and warrant for possession of class D.
Anthony Decontreras, age 23, from Lowell, MA. He was charged with Assault by Means of a Dangerous Weapon (chair) Affray and Resisting Arrest.
Rolando Fernandes, age 22, from Lawrence, MA. He was charged with Affray.
Richie Hernandez, age 19, from Lawrence, MA. He was charged with Disturbing the Peace and Resisting Arrest.
Joshua Saldarriaga, age 21, from Dracut, MA. He was charged with Affray, Assault and Battery on a Police Officer and Resisting Arrest.
Cheury Gomez, age 21, from Cambridge, MA. He was charged with affray and resisting arrest.
Thank you kad barma for printing out the official report so the bar owner...oh sorry Seriously could read it.
ReplyDeleteI had my scanner on and was up when the call came in for Fortunato's . To verify what was said above, Fortunato's made no phone call that came over the air. The police spotted the fight and it sounded like it involved the entire premises.
ReplyDelete