Downtown bar cited for license violation
WOONSOCKET – For the third time in as many years, the operator of Back Street Sports Bar has been ordered to appear before the city’s licensing authorities on charges of violating regulations governing the sale of alcohol.
Carmen Nunez was ordered to appear before the Board of License Commissioners after an under-aged patron got into a crash as she was leaving the 33 Arnold St. bar earlier this summer and was arrested for drunk driving and other charges.,
A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 2. Under the city’s system of graduated penalties for repeat offenses, the bar’s license could be suspended.
According to records of prior meetings in which the board took up sanctions against Back Street Sports Bar, Nunez was cited in early 2016 after workers at the bar served drinks to underaged patrons in two separate incidents.
Nunez admitted to the violations and voluntarily agreed to beef up security and pay closer attention to having younger patrons sign the minors book.
Officially, the board let Nunez off with a warning.
She was cited again in the fall of 2017 after members of the Woonsocket Police Department charged three men with disorderly conduct for fighting outside the bar. This time, the board fined Nunez $1,000 and instructed her to employ a police detail consisting of two officers for six consecutive Fridays, from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
The latest infractions were the result of a visit paid by police to Back Street Sports Bar around closing time on June 10. While they were in the parking area across the street from the bar, Officers Joseph Wasilewski and Travis Young saw a woman leave the bar, get into her vehicle and sideswipe a parked car, according to police reports.
Instead of stopping, the woman allegedly accelerated and was subsequently involved in a second crash, this one with a vehicle that was occupied and in motion.
Later identified as Serena Gonzalez, 20, the allegedly errant motorist was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, BAC unknown, and leaving the scene of an accident involving an attended vehicle. Police say she was also issued a summons to the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal for refusal to submit to a breath alcohol test, a civil infraction.
Gonzalez pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges in Sixth District Court shortly after the incident. The charges are pending, with another hearing scheduled for Aug. 27, according to the judiciary’s web site.