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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Investigation Turns Up Liquor Violations
By Vic Vela
Journal Staff Writer
An undercover investigation of a bar in Los Alamos revealed a server drinking on the job, another serving alcohol without a proper permit and visibly intoxicated customers still getting drinks, according to State Police.
The investigation was prompted by two separate incidents in which patrons were arrested for aggravated DWI after leaving the Canyon Bar and Grill, 163 Central Park Square.
One man was arrested May 15 after his vehicle was “found wrecked and stuck in a ditch.” Three days later, the blood alcohol content of another man arrested —who struck a car with his truck on May 18 — was as high as 0.31 percent, nearly four times the presumed level of intoxication, according to Los Alamos police and Department of Public Safety reports.
The arrests prompted police in Los Alamos to ask DPS to begin a source investigation of the bar where the men were drinking that evening, according to DPS spokesman Peter Olson.
DPS agents conducted undercover surveillance on May 22 and May 30, catching on tape “proof that violations of the Liquor Control Act were occurring in the establishment,” according to a DPS-requested search warrant affidavit filed in state District Court Monday.
Olson said one server — Damon Hosford — was issued a citation for consuming alcohol while on duty after agents saw him drinking about six alcoholic beverages in one evening. Another server — Jennifer Nisengard — was issued a citation for serving alcohol without a server's permit. The license holder of the Canyon Bar and Grill was also served with the same citations.
The bar also received a warning for overserving after agents saw employees serving drinks to customers who “displayed obvious signs of intoxication,” Olson said. One man appeared to have bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. The reason the bar got off with a warning was because the blood alcohol content of the man was not taken, according to Olson.
Source investigators executed a search warrant of the bar Saturday, where they seized surveillance equipment from inside the establishment. A copy of the warrant was left with the bar's owner, Michael Cutler, according to the DPS document.
Cutler could not be reached for comment Monday.
Los Alamos Police Department spokesman Capt. Randy Foster confirmed that the department asked DPS to investigate the bar after the two DWIs. He said it was the first time such a request was made regarding Canyon Bar and Grill.
The May 15 incident involved Mason D. Tietjen, who was arrested and accused of aggravated DWI after he was “having a hard time” driving his white Ford Ranger out of a ditch on East Jemez Road. Tietjen told police that he had “a few beers” with friends at the bar.
On May 18, Ronald Maloof was found by police standing next to a red Toyota Corolla that had damage to its rear. A witness said he heard Maloof's green and tan pickup strike the Corolla as Maloof was backing out of parking lot on Canyon Drive. The witness said Maloof “appeared to be so intoxicated he could not walk in a straight line,” according to the Los Alamos police report.
Maloof told police he had been drinking at the Canyon Bar and Grill. After being taken to jail — and failing roadside sobriety tests — Maloof provided to breath samples that registered blood alcohol contents of 0.31 percent and 0.30 percent.
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