51 Tucson establishments flagged for liquor violations in 2016

Fifty-one Tucson bars, restaurants and markets were fined a collective $45,000 in 2016 for liquor law violations, state records show.

The majority of the violations and a large portion of the money collected in 2016 came from smaller fines for taxes, lack of knowledge of liquor laws, no manager agreement on file and employees who hadn’t taken the required alcohol training course, according to Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control records.

However, a number of locations were fined thousands of dollars for violations such as serious acts of violence on the premises and failure to protect patrons, and several locations were flagged for not reporting assaults, records show.

The largest fine came from Maloney’s Tavern, 213 N. Fourth Ave., which the Star reported last July was fined $8,000 for failure to protect patrons, serious act of violence and an employee drunk on duty.

Rocky Point Drive Thru liquor store, 2526 W. Valencia Road, was fined $5,000 in May for selling liquor to an intoxicated man who was struck by a car 20 minutes after he left the store, according to the records.

During the liquor board and Pima County Sheriff Department’s investigation, one of the store employees who was working during the incident said that when the customer came in, he smelled of alcohol and was clearly drunk.

The woman also told investigators she would not have sold alcohol to the man, but she was handling another customer and her co-worker made the sale, records show.

The store was also cited for failure to protect the safety of patrons. The Star reached out to Rocky Point for a comment, but an owner or manager wasn’t available.

The Star previously reported that O’Malleys Bar and Grill, 247 N. Fourth Ave., was fined $1,625 for failing to report two assaults and having an employee drunk on duty.

Earlier this year, the Star also reported downtown nightclub Hi Fi Kitchen and Cocktails, 345 E. Congress St., was fined $1,500 for repeated acts of violence, which the liquor department defines as two or more incidents in a seven-day period or three within 30 days, the database shows.

Hi Fi manager C.J. Urban said at the time there were issues with fights outside of the building after the bar first opened, but that they report all incidents to the police or the liquor board.

In addition to the fine, Hi Fi was also required to submit a comprehensive security plan to the board and submit proof that all employees had attended liquor-law training, records show.

Another downtown nightclub, Zen, 125 E. Congress St., was fined $2,000 after the liquor board received a tip that employees were taking bribes to allow minors inside.

During a detail with Tucson police, two underage buyers paid the doorman $40 to get in and were able to buy beers, which they handed to an undercover police officer. The doorman and the bartender were criminally cited for failing to get IDs and selling alcohol to minors.

Zen's liquor license holder, Kevin Kramber, declined to comment on the situation.

Prince Market, 952 W. Prince Road, was also fined a hefty amount for selling to minors, paying $5,000 for two separate incidents, and Tony’s Liquors, 4717 S. 12th Ave., was fined $3,000.

Ten’s Nightclub, 5120 E. Speedway, was cited for failure to report an act of violence , after a female employee was assaulted in the bathroom by another woman.

The manager told the employee that because of her injury, she needed to leave the club, but he didn’t call for medical attention. The employee went to the hospital and hospital staff called the police due to the type of injury and where she worked, records show.

Investigators found no record that Ten’s contacted police, violating a mandatory liquor board law. The amount of the fine was unclear from liquor board records.

Several other locations fined lesser amounts for selling to minors include: