PEABODY — The Cabaret Lounge will appear in front of the Licensing Board in June (TBD) to address a fight between a bouncer and a patron in February.
Prior to the hearing, the Cabaret must provide the Licensing Board with a statement of what happened that night and any security videos from inside and outside of the club to see if there were any violations of their Mass General laws for their liquor license.
“We’ve sent a letter and they have been told they must provide what we have asked for before we set the date of any meeting,” said Licensing Board member Barry Sinewitz. “We want the hearing to be in public, not remotely, as this is an important issue that needs to be addressed and the public is entitled to know what is going on.”
According to the police report, a man named Anthony Faia got kicked out of the Cabaret and was trying to get back in by running at the doors and using his shoulder to get the doors open, eventually punching a hole in the door.
The police report said that Faia was stumbling near the side of the lounge and appeared “intoxicated, angry, and in unknown distress.”
After multiple attempts, the report said that all three bouncers came out of the doors toward Faia who then ran towards them and that was when the three bouncers tackled Faia.
The officer said in the police report that a video of the incident was difficult to view, but it appeared that all three bounces were on top of Faia, hitting him — and at one point — Faia got up and was holding his face. The officer said that was when Faia got pepper sprayed.
When discussing the altercation, Sinewitz referenced an incident that happened at a bar in Boston in March when a bouncer stabbed and killed a patron, resulting in the bar losing its entertainment license. While nobody died in the incident at the Cabaret, Sinewitz said there was some kind of altercation, so the Licensing Board is just trying to determine what happened to see if they need to take any action.
“I always like to be fair and say there’s three sides to every story; theirs, ours, and the truth,” Sinewitz said. “Until they get before us and they provide a statement of their version of what happened, they’re entitled to a hearing.”
The Cabaret still has its liquor license, which was renewed in December. During a public hearing, the Licensing Board will ask questions about what happened that night and see what protocols the Cabaret has in place for incidents like this.
“Some action that could be taken could include a warning, or a loss of license for a day, it all depends on what we deem, and how serious it was,” said Sinewitz. “And then, once we make a decision, if they don’t like it then they can appeal it to the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC).”
Sinewitz said it’s unfortunate what happened, but the Licensing Board needs to make sure there are policies in place about how to handle unruly patients getting out of control.
“We’re concerned about overserving, I’m not saying they did, but we’re concerned about overserving; what’s their security and their training; what is the protocol when somebody’s getting out of control,” Sinewitz said. “They need to come before us so we can find out what happened because we can’t have this stuff happening.”
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
