District 2 Councilman Jack Perry said it was unfair to blame Thirsty Turtle for the Oct. 12 stabbings, but he was outvoted 7-1.
Nearly a week after the county liquor board unanimously voted to revoke Thirsty Turtle’s liquor license for allegedly serving underage patrons, the College Park City Council chimed in last night to support the board’s decision.
The council passed a resolution to send a letter of support as Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners prepares for a second hearing on the popular downtown nightspot tonight to discuss its role in an Oct. 12 quadruple stabbing outside the bar.
“Based upon the information received by the city, the actions alleged do constitute a danger to the peace and good order, and a threat to city residents and visitors,” read the city’s resolution, which cited written testimony from police, this university, Catholic University and Archbishop Spalding High School in Anne Arundel County.
Additionally, the city’s letter addressed the overall atmosphere of the bar, where officials said a low food-to-alcohol ratio creates an atmosphere that invites violent behavior.
“The Thirsty Turtle serves liquor to minors on a routine basis, and over serves them and exercises no control on the amount of alcohol they consume. As a result there have been numerous instances of minors requiring medical treatment for alcohol use,” the letter read.
The motion to support the county’s actions passed 7 to 1, with District 2 Councilman Jack Perry opposing.
Perry said that while he supported the county’s decision to revoke Turtle’s liquor license based on specific violations, he did not approve of the language in the letter that blamed Turtle for the Oct. 12 stabbings.
“We haven’t heard that it’s the restaurant’s fault.” Perry said. “I don’t know if we can actually say the Thirsty Turtle is responsible for an altercation not on the premises. I don’t know that we gotta get into that.”
District 3 Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich defended the letter.
“Those same individuals, who were under the legal drinking age, were involved in an altercation inside and then continued it outside with pretty serious results,” Stullich said. “To me, there are a pretty compelling series of circumstances. I think that it provides a very strong case for why we should support the revocation of the liquor license.”
The city had scheduled a half-hour discussion of Turtle in which university and county police would share their criticisms about the bar and Alan Wanuck, its owner, would defend it. The letter was instead passed with little debate when no police or bar representatives attended.
mccarty at umdbk dot com
