Raffi’s overcrowding target of licensing board

LYNN – Raffi’s Place at 408 Summer St. is in hot water again with the Lynn Licensing Board after being cited for overcrowding with a reported 38 more people than they are legally allowed last month.Owner Rafael A. Guzman is scheduled to appear before the board tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the community room at the Lynn police station to explain the situation.Chairman Richard Coppinger said the bar has a lot of explaining to do because they reportedly violated a temporary occupancy permit of 115 people on May 12, when the Lynn Police Special Investigations Unit (SIU) counted 137 people exiting the establishment with 16 employees still inside.In April, the board handed Raffi’s a 10-day suspension for an overcrowding violation that occurred March 31 that was later appealed.Coppinger said the pub is currently waiting for a date to be set by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) on the matter.”If they are found to be in violation, we would have to follow up with an aggressive discipline because it would appear to be blatant,” he said. “It might mean another suspension, but it really depends on the severity of the violation.”According to a police report, SIU officers performed a check of the premise at 12 a.m., and noticed that the parking lot of Raffi’s and the surrounding streets were filled with parked vehicles.Officers also say they noticed the vertical blinds in the front windows were closed, even though Guzman was told multiple times that the blinds must remain open when the bar is open for business.At 12:55 a.m., officers told Guzman that they had counted 137 people exit the bar, to which he responded, “yeah right.”Police then asked Guzman what his count was and he said 99 people.He then reportedly became upset with the officers and said, “I’ll see you at the ABCC.””To deliberately violate the occupancy permit would be considered very severe,” Coppinger said. “So we’ll have to hear testimony from Guzman, the officers and most likely Roger Ennis (chief building inspector for the Inspectional Services Department).”Coppinger said Guzman faces a rollback of hours, suspension or revocation of the alcoholic beverages license as a common victualler for the following police reports: larceny over $250 by single scheme; liquor violations/overcrowding; violation of local rules and regulations; prior history; lack of management and control; failure to cooperate with police; allowing an illegality to occur on premises; violation of ABCC rules on overcrowding, and a third offense for overcrowding within a four month period.The larceny charge stems back to an incident at the pub on May 5, when a customer claimed someone took a key out of her purse and stole two bottles of perfume and 10 CDs out of her Honda Accord.Guzman reportedly said the surveillance cameras inside and out of the pub did not catch the incident and that there aren’t any suspects at this time.According to Ennis, Raffi’s was issued a temporary occupancy permit after a fire gutted the building last June and repairs were still being made to the business.After the permit expired on April 19, another permit was issued so that uncompleted work at the building could be finished.