Jefferson City's Liquor Control Board voted Monday to suspend operation of Paddy Malone's Irish Pub for two days as part of a stipulation regarding a firearms incident.
In April, Allen Tatman, husband of the bar's owner and employee of Paddy Malone's, was arrested for knowingly discharging a firearm inside the 700 W. Main St. bar while intoxicated. He was not on duty at the time.
The city and Molly Malone Inc., the company that operates Paddy Malone's agreed in the stipulation that the Liquor Control Board could "find facts sufficient to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation of the Code occurred" and the board could "impose discipline upon (Paddy Malone's) liquor license."
Tatman's wife owns the bar and holds the liquor license.
Jefferson City's Associate City Counselor Bryan Wolford said this settlement means Molly Malone Inc., not Tatman, is admitting factual allegations. Tatman's criminal case is being prosecuted through the Cole County Circuit Court, and a hearing is scheduled Sept. 12
As punishment, Paddy Malone's will be suspended Aug. 4-5. This means the bar will not be allowed to serve alcohol and food those two days.
"Most of their crowd comes on Friday and Saturday nights, and they could generate a lot of income during those nights," Wolford said. "The bulk of their revenue is on Fridays and Saturdays, and they're going to lose all that income that they could have potentially had."
Paddy Malone's will pay a $500 fine to the city by Aug. 4, and Tatman will not be allowed on the bar's premises for 14 days, from Aug. 1-14. Paddy Malone's will also have Tatman wear a GPS tracker, paid for by the bar, during that period to ensure he does not violate the stipulation.
Since the business is entering a settlement, Molly Malone's cannot appeal it, Wolford said.
If the bar violates the terms of the settlement, then the board can suspend Paddy Malone's liquor license for 14 consecutive days.
Wolford said he thought the stipulation was "fair and just."
"It's not overly harsh, but it also sends a message that this type of behavior is not acceptable and it also deters other bars from doing the same thing - or even deters this bar from doing it ever again," he said.
The board approved the settlement on 2-1 vote, with Jefferson City Fire Department Chief Matthew Schofield being the sole opponent of the settlement.
Schofield said he wanted "more progressive disciplinary actions." He proposed a 10-day liquor license suspension instead, which would have meant the bar could sell food but not alcohol. This motion failed due to a lack of a second.
"The details of this case were troubling because of the obvious disregard to implicit instructions of law enforcement personnel," Schofield said. "This is the reason I made the motion for a stronger penalty."
According to the probable cause statement, Tatman was "visibly intoxicated" when he asked a Capitol police officer about discharging a firearm and the officer advised him not to. The officer later heard what sounded like a gunshot and found Tatman inside Paddy Malone's.
Tatman had fired an antique flintlock rifle replica that did not have a projectile loaded in it but created sparks, according to the probable cause statement. He later admitted he had fired the rifle outside the bar earlier.
Patrons were present in the bar both times the gun was fired, according to the statement.
Schofield referenced the section of city code regarding the role of the Liquor Control Board as the reasoning behind his opposition. The city code states that "holding a license to sell intoxicating liquors or nonintoxicating beer is a privilege and not a right" and that the Liquor Control Board should "ensure that liquor or nonintoxicating beer licenses are granted only to persons of responsible and moral character."
Margie Mueller, Jefferson City's finance director and a Liquor Control Board member, said while the weekend suspension and other repercussions played a part in her motion to accept the stipulation, her main concern was the possible appeals process if the board had rejected it.
"If we had an alternate, there is always a chance on appeal that (the punishment) could be negotiated or lowered or continue on in the process, which, quite frankly, is an expense to the city to hire court reporters and all the staff time in dealing with the appeals process," she said.
Wolford said rejecting the stipulation and the possible appeal process would have "delayed justice." By accepting the settlement, the punishments could occur immediately.
"Punishment should be swift, relatively close to the time the incident happened in order to be effective," he said.
Eleven years ago, Tatman, who owned Paddy Malone's at the time, had an after-hours violation, Wolford said, noting the current incident is different because the violation occurred during operating hours and Tatman does not own the bar.
Molly Malone's Inc. has owned the bar for about 11 years and has not had an incident prior to the current one, Wolford said.
"Since the city has been licensing bars, at least as far back as my research could tell, we've just never had an incident where an off-duty employee was intoxicated and discharged an antique firearm," he said. "We've never had a case like this before. This is a unique type of situation. It's the first time this has happened in this city and hopefully the last time."