State Liquor Board Hearing for Short Stop

By Amber Lester Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Short appeared at a three-hour hearing before the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at its Hampton regional office. The hearing was held to investigate six charges brought against the business, including consumption of alcohol by intoxicated people, consumption of alcohol by an employee on duty, loitering by an intoxicated person and failure to conform to building standards. The charges refer to incidents observed by three ABC special agents working undercover on the nights of Feb. 27 and March 17.

The Short Stop Market & Deli is on New Town Avenue. It's a busy neighborhood market and sandwich shop during the day, and makes the transition at night to a sports-style bar with several large TVs.

James City County Assistant Fire Marshal Michelle Toutaint testified her department started investigating the Short Stop Market after receiving complaints of overcrowding at the bar. She said the county building official notified the owners that the 2,000-2,500 square-foot building was over its capacity of 66 people on Feb. 26. At that time, the owners were warned that the fire marshal would check in on the weekends.

On March 17, undercover ABC special agents sent word to Toutaint that the building was over its capacity, with more than 70 people by 9:30 p.m. When she came at 11 p.m., she had trouble entering the building, she said, and estimated more than 80 people were in the bar. She attempted to make her way through the crowd to two emergency exits. She found owner Tony Short, who had worked as bouncer for the night, and asked him to remove 12 people.

That night, Toutaint issued three notices of violation for overcrowding and blocked exits. The notices served as written warnings, she said. Short was receptive, she said, and immediately asked some patrons to leave. Toutaint said she observed no problems in her last visit at the beginning of the summer.

Special Agents Judy Dobson and Wynter Edwards testified about drunken behavior observed during their two nights working undercover at Short Stop. On Feb. 27, they saw bartender Laura Silvestri consume three Jell-O shooters, two made with tequila and one with vodka, while serving customers.

They also saw a drunken female steadying herself on anything she could reach – barstools, table edges, patrons – as she made her way to the bathroom. Shortly after, she exited the bar and was arrested by police moments later. She was the customer accused of loitering in the bar.

On St. Patrick’s Day, the two officers were joined by a third, Tyler Blanks. They saw a man, estimated to be in his late 30s or early 40s, who seemed to be unsteady on his feet. Dobson testified he leaned against a table as he drank a Shock Top Michelob beer, and then consumed a “Dancing Leprechaun” shooter offered by a friend. The shooter was made with Irish whiskey, Drambuie, lemon juice and ginger ale. Shortly after 11 p.m., James City County police arrested the man for being drunk in public.

Around the same time, Dobson noticed Michael James Miller trying to run towards the bathroom only to run smack into the wall. Once he exited the bathroom, he bumped into several patrons, hugging many of them, and made his way to the dance floor where he pulled out a plastic bag. Edwards thought she saw him take money from patrons several times through the night, and when Miller was eventually arrested, he had individual bags of marijuana. He told Dobson he’d had five or six beers at Short Stop.

Edwards testified that throughout the night on St. Patrick’s Day, employees of the bar had complained about police presence, not knowing she was one of them. “The bouncer said we wouldn’t have to worry about undercover agents because they would be gone after a couple weeks,” she said.

In her testimony, Short calmly addressed each charge. She pointed out that the special agents did not get blood alcohol level tests for any of the arrested patrons, did not test the alcohol level of any of the drinks and drank at the bar while on duty.

She was not present the night of Feb. 27, but she worked as bartender on St. Patrick’s Day while her husband, Tony Short, worked the door. She said she locked their side access door so that patrons couldn’t enter from the outside, but could still exit. Her husband manned the door and used a manual counter to keep track of patrons.

When first approached by Toutaint, Tony Short’s clicker showed 64 patrons had entered the building, Chasity Short said. She could not verify whether he included employees in his capacity count. Later, Toutaint arrived with the written warning, but didn’t ask the owners to herd people out of the building, Short said.

After police arrived around 11 p.m., Short stopped allowing patrons to open tabs and quit serving new drinks for about 35 minutes. “I wanted to make sure I was able to maintain the level of alcohol being served,” she said.

Short maintained she didn’t serve any patrons she already knew to be intoxicated. She thought the man who had the Dancing Leprechaun might have had knee and hip problems by the way he was standing. She said she reviewed surveillance tapes to observe the woman accused of loitering, and said she seemed to stay only five to seven minutes. “She did try to order a drink, but was told no and went outside and placed a phone call,” Short said.

Short said she has worked with Hughes to bring her bar into compliance, and noted the bar has not had any problems since March. The owners have added a third entrance and a patio where a bouncer can work the door; the employee caught drinking was suspended for a week and put on notice; lights are not lowered as much and fewer people are allowed in on busy nights.

ABC Hearing Officer Sarah Gilliam said she would issue a decision in about 90 days; depending on the decision, the owners will have the option to appeal.