Two bars probed in fatal car crash
Bartender accused of not checking ID of 20-year-old driver
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating at least two bars in connection to a fatal car crash in Clear Lake believed to be linked to alcohol that killed a mother and her 3-month-old son.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating at least two bars in connection to a fatal car crash in Clear Lake believed to be linked to alcohol that killed a mother and her 3month-old son, an agency spokesman confirmed.
A bartender at Crescent City Connection Sports & Oyster Bay in Clear Lake has been charged with criminal negligence for allegedly failing to check identifications for Veronica Rivas, 20, and her 17-year-old friend in the evening before Rivas got behind the wheel and crashed in the early morning hours on Feb. 28.
Rivas and her friend are also believed to have visited Dempsey’s Tavern in Webster the same evening, sources told the Houston Chronicle.
The restaurant’s management declined comment on Wednesday.
TABC spokesman Chris Porter declined to confirm the names of the establishments being investigated for possibly serving Rivas alcohol in the hours before the crash, saying the agency didn’t want to indict anyone before the investigation was complete.
“We have not yet taken any action against individual businesses,” Porter said.
The young women were also seen at a Mexican restaurant near Clear Lake, but Porter said the restaurant has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
About 3:50 a.m. on Feb. 28, Rivas’ vehicle slammed into a car carrying Shayla Joseph, 36, and her infant son, Braylan, of Clear Lake, at the Gulf Freeway feeder road near El Dorado, investigators said.
The mother and son died, and Rivas has been charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter.
Dempsey’s Tavern did not respond to requests for comment.
Management at Crescent City has denied any involvement in
the incident and said in a statement that the bar didn’t provide any alcohol to an underage person.
“Numerous media outlets have erroneously reported that Crescent City employees provided alcohol to a minor in connection with this unfortunate and unnecessary loss of life,” the statement reads. “Further, it was also erroneously reported that the minor and her associates were leaving Crescent City before the accident.
“These reports by various news outlets are categorically false. No Crescent City employee provided alcohol to a minor on that night, or any other night.”
Although the bar has refuted prosecutors’ claims that Rivas and her friends were served margaritas at Crescent City, bartender Amy Allen has been charged.
The bar owner’s son, Devin Jackson, 24, and another man, John C. Medina, 23 have also been charged and are accused of buying alcohol and providing it to the young women, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Allen surrendered to police and was arrested Monday. Her attorney maintained that she sold alcohol to an adult, who might have given it to Rivas.
Since Crescent City closes at 10 p.m., almost six hours had passed by the time of the crash, according to the restaurant’s statement.
Allen’s attorney, Nicholas Ryan Poehl, said it’s difficult for him to believe Rivas just drank at Crescent City.
“If, hypothetically, I were the prosecutor who was charging Ms. Rivas with intoxication manslaughter, that would be a problem if I were … trying to assign blame to this particular location,” Poehl said.
Dempsey’s Tavern has previously been flagged for serving alcohol to an underage person in 2013 and twice in 2014 with serving alcohol to an intoxicated person, according to the TABC.
The tavern agreed to pay $2,400 in fines to settle the three cases.
State records show the tavern is owned by Round DHA LLC, based in League City.
Officials with the TABC said Crescent City Connection is owned by Orleans Parish Ventures Inc., which listed a Friendswood address. The company has not had any public safety violations in recent years, but has been cited twice for failing to pay suppliers.
The first case, in 2016, led to warnings from the state commission. On April 3, the company agreed to pay $1,400 in fines for failing to pay a supplier, Porter said.
If any action is taken against any bars, the establishments could face administrative charges in the form of fines or a temporary or permanent suspension of a license to sell alcohol, Porter said.