Austintown cops go bar hopping for lawbreakers

Many businesses have been cited for selling alcohol to patrons under 21.

By ELISE FRANCO

Vindicator staff writer

AUSTINTOWN — Township authorities want liquor establishments in Austintown to know the law is watching them.

Compliance checks on businesses with liquor licenses aren’t new, but Sgt. Jordan Yacovone said officers have gone on an enforcement binge in the last 12 months.

“Recently we’ve really been out there actively enforcing [compliance], he said.

Yacovone said since January 2009 the department has cited at least a dozen bars, restaurants or drive-through liquor stores. He said most citations have been issued for selling to a person under 21.

Most recently, on Jan. 6, The Babylon on Javit Court, The Go Go Cabaret on Clarkins Drive and Buffalo Wild Wings on Mahoning Avenue, were found serving alcohol to an underage informant.

Police Chief Bob Gavalier said the department will send in an under age person who is working with the department to see if he or she can get served alcohol.

“What makes this hard is that once you bust the first establishment, they start texting and calling to let everyone else know we’re inside the bars that night,” he said.

Yacovone said the informant, who is usually 19 or 20, enters the business to try to buy alcohol. He said most of the time the violation happens because the bartender fails to check the informant’s identification.

Go Go owner Sebastian Rucci said that was part of the reason his club was cited.

Rucci said he has a door man who sits at the front of the club to check IDs as patrons enter, but on Jan. 6, the door man was away from the door checking dancers’ purses.

“The kid that came in ... and the first [employee] came by and gave him a beer,” he said. “As soon as another [employee] came by and tried to card him, he walked out the door.”

Rucci said he was displeased with the actions of his employees that night, and those who overlooked checking the ID were suspended for two days.

“They missed him, and they shouldn’t have,” he said. “The bottom line is I’m not happy with it. I wish they would have done better, but it does happen.”

Dave Knapp, O’Donold’s manager, said checking IDs at the door is exactly how his establishment avoided a citation that night.

An informant was also placed in O’Donold’s, on Mahoning Avenue, as well as Club 76, on 76 Drive and Cosmos, on Raccoon Road. All three businesses were operating within the law.

“We check them at the door at night, so that’s the first barrier that an underage would have to go through,” Knapp said. “Bartenders are ultimately responsible for underage drinkers so if they feel someone is in question they have the right to check the ID again, and that’s what we encourage.”

Yacovone said they’re not just looking for underage drinking, however.

“We’re also looking for after- hours violations,” he said. “We’ll have someone go up to the bar to see if they can observe after-hour alcohol sales.”

Yacovone said a citation is two-fold — the employee who served the underage patron is cited, as well as the establishment’s liquor license.

He said the criminal charge to the person who made the sale is a misdemeanor and the maximum penalty is 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Gavalier said Austintown has more than 100 liquor establishments, so it takes work to keep them all within the bounds of the law.

“A lot of businesses are setting a standard of 30 or 40,” he said. “So if you look under 40, you card them.”

efranco@vindy.com