SPRINGDALE -- A business owner has appealed an order revoking his alcohol permit earlier this month. The revocation came in the wake of two alcohol-related deaths earlier this year.
Edward Vega, owner of the Springdale Civic Center, 2323 S. Old Missouri Road, appealed the order through his lawyer James Crouch on June 16, said Judy Chwalinski, administrative assistant to Bud Roberts, director of the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control office.
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To read the Alcoholic Beverage Control’s original order sent to Edward Vega, go to www.nwadg/documents.
"We disagree with the findings of the director, so we hope to appeal to the entire (Beverage Control) board and hope that they see it our way that the permit should not have been revoked," Crouch said Tuesday.
The board will likely hear Vega's appeal Aug. 17, Chwalinski said.
Roberts, who wrote the order revoking the permit, said Tuesday an appeal was expected because Crouch notified his office there would be one.
Roberts' order was effective June 16 when it was sent to Vega by certified mail and in person through an enforcement agent sent to the business to confiscate the permit.
Vega, who had 15 days to appeal, was prohibited from selling any alcohol at the business once the order was served.
A concert featuring the Mexican rock band El Tri was held at the civic center June 18, but alcohol wasn't served.
Before the concert, Roberts said Crouch contacted one of his staff attorneys to see if he would consider a request to stay his order because of the concert. Roberts said if an official request was made, he wouldn't stay the order, and stressed revoking Vega's alcohol permit wasn't a revocation of Vega's business license.
Roberts' order cited the deaths of 23-year-old Alejandro Hernandez and 22-year-old Guillermo Sanchez, both of Clarksville. They were killed during the early morning hours of March 13 when the 1997 Chevrolet pickup they were passengers in went off the road and slammed into a tree.
The driver, 19-year-old Julio Galan, also of Clarksville, was injured. Galan had been drinking at the Civic Center before the accident, according to the order written by Roberts earlier this month. One witness at the center said Galan was a "lightweight" drinker and he was swaying from side to side, struggling to balance himself and nodding in and out of consciousness. Galan was visibly intoxicated when he and his two passengers left the business, according to the order.
A sample of Galan's blood was drawn at a hospital following the accident. His blood alcohol content was 0.185, more than twice the legal limit, Roberts wrote in his order.
In a June 10 statement on the Civic Center's Facebook page, Crouch said Galan wasn't sold beer at the business.
"Rather, his friends bought the beer and served him," Crouch said.
Vega had multiple Beverage Control infractions and was on probation when the fatal accident occurred, Roberts said.
Violations persisted at the Civic Center even after the fatal crash in March, Roberts said.
A team of FBI agents, Springdale police and Beverage Control enforcement agents visited the club April 9 and remained at the scene into the early hours of April 10.
Roberts wrote in the order to revoke the alcohol permit: "The officers and agents saw at least one bloody fight between patrons; at least five patrons over-served alcohol; at least one customer allowed to leave the club with an open beer in hand; at least 13 patrons allowed to consume alcohol after permitted serving hours; at least 42 full, cold beers sitting on surfaces in front of customers after permitted hours; many beer cans and bottles littering the parking lot; innumerable cans, containers, boxes-cut-into-trays and pools of standing beer all over the floor inside the club; and at least two minors allowed to drink alcohol (one was 17 -- the other was 19)."
Beverage Control has revoked six alcohol permits, including Vega's, in the past 25 years. All six were in the past year and a half since Roberts became director.
The Civic Center isn't associated with Springdale, Mayor Doug Sprouse said June 9, the day Roberts confirmed the order.
NW News on 06/29/2016