The Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners reinstates Backyard Sports Grill’s liquor license.
The Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners voted Wednesday night to suspend Backyard Sports Grill’s liquor license until Dec. 2.
The sanctions are a result of a July 31 incident at the establishment, when an altercation outside of the bar spilled over to Slices Pizza Co., which resulted in the assault of four people. The incident revealed that the bar had violated its entertainment permit by hiring a promoter and failing to hire an off-duty police officer as security.
“The reason for the severity of the penalty is because I found a general disregard for what the rules were all the way back to April 2015, and this occurred in July 2015,” Anuj Sud, a commissioner on the board, said at the hearing.
READ MORE: Backyard Sports Grill could get sanctioned for July altercation
The College Park City Council voted on Oct. 13 to send a letter to the board in support of a potential fine and/or suspension of the business’s liquor license.
Dana Lee, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Kristi, said they were unaware of how third parties such as disc jockeys advertise events with promoters and said this unawareness led to a breach in their special entertainment license, which prohibits the use of promoters.
“We were simply naive,” Dana Lee testified. “We didn’t understand the interaction between the DJs and promoters.”
Bob Ryan, the city’s public service director, and Suellen Ferguson, the city attorney, represented the city.
At the hearing, Ferguson said the city puts an emphasis on making sure that places that serve alcohol are safe and abiding by the rules of their property use agreement with the city and their security plan with the Prince George’s County Police Department.
When the establishment opened in March, the owners told the city they were going to try to change the atmosphere of the previous bar, Big Play Sports Grill, which had various incidents, including serving a pedestrian who was struck by a car and killed in July 2014.
READ MORE: Woman killed Sunday morning in Route 1 hit-and-run
“They are getting a lot of the same clientele that put Big Play out of business,” said Cpl. Tami Cicale, who is part of the county department’s Internal Affairs Office of Secondary Employment, which helps create the security plans for special entertainment licenses. “It is not a sports bar, and it does not cater to a professional clientele. That is why there continues to be issues.”
Ferguson said what has transpired is not what the owners promised the city when they opened.
“That is very disturbing to the city,” she said at the hearing.
The Lees declined to comment for this story.
Backyard Sports Grill requested a continuance regarding a Sept. 26 incident during which a county officer was assaulted. They will appear before the board again on Dec. 2 and could face more sanctions.
