I-Team

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Across Massachusetts there are dozens of bars that allow drunk drivers to get on our roadways. It's a serious problem and the I-Team is exposing the nightclubs and restaurants most responsible.

Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve says 1,400 people each year are convicted of drunk driving and they all have to answer one question while standing in a courtroom: Where did you have your last drink?

Undercover In Worcester

It was midnight last Friday night and the bars in downtown Worcester were overflowing. This night, blending into the crowds moving from bar to bar, were investigators from the state's alcohol enforcement unit and WBZ I-team. Investigators were looking for bars and bartenders breaking the law by serving drinks to drunks.

Ted Mahoney is an investigator with the State's Alcohol Beverage Control Commission. "This isn't about people who are out for a good time and perhaps having had an extra glass of wine....this about staggering fall down drunks."

The I-Team undercover camera captured a guy so drunk he was is nodding off at the White Eagle Bar in Worcester. Yet he was still being served beer. His car was parked out side.

Luckily, alcohol investigators stepped in and as the camera rolled, Worcester Police put him in a cab. The White Eagle was charged with three violations of the state's liquor law. A bar manager told the I-Team on the phone he was unaware of any violations.

The goal of undercover sting operations, like the one in Worcester, is clear. Keep the drunks from getting into their cars and killing or injuring someone and at the same time, hold the bars responsible.

"Lives Are At Stake"

Laurie Clifford of Quincy lost her right arm in a crash caused by a drunk driver. Just this month, the 99 Restaurant in North Andover was ordered to pay Clifford $5 million. Jurors found bar tenders at the 99 served the drunk driver about 10 beers shortly before the crash.

Clifford says with regards to the bartenders "they just see the beginning of it. They don't see someone like me and what I have going through for the past five years."

Her attorney is James Marano of Newton. "Lives are at stake. Significant catastrophic injury is at stake. Public safety is at stake."

Bars - The Repeat Offenders

So which bars are state alcohol investigators most concerned about? The I-Team obtained a list of the bars with the worst records.

Michael's Harborside in Newburyport is a repeat offender. For the second year in a row, 10 people convicted of drunk driving told the courts that Michael's is where they had their last drink. It's the most in eastern Massachusetts.

The manager of Michael's Harborside tells the I-Team they have "discontinued the operation of the upstairs dance club. This has resulted in ....a 40 percent drop in alcohol consumption."

In Northboro, JJ's Sports Bar and Grill at the intersection of busy Route 9 and Route 20 has been connected to nine drunken driving arrests in 2008. The owner told Shortsleeve they "serve 9,000 people each month."

Vincent Maiuri added while they take the issue seriously "it's hard to know if these drunk drivers are even telling the police the truth."

In Saugus, the night club Tabu, which attracts a very young crowd, has been named eight times this year by convicted drink drivers as their last stop before getting nabbed by police. The owner promised us a statement but never called back.

Disciplining Offending Bars

State Treasurer Tim Cahill oversees enforcement of the state's liquor laws. "We can put them on the list which is sort of a public shaming. We can take away their license which is the most extreme form of punishment. We can fine them."

But that is not enough for Laurie Clifford. Her life has been changed forever. She hopes bar owners get the message before someone else gets hurt. "It's sad …but they need to take control of it. They need to be accountable for every person that they over-serve because these people ultimately end up in the parking lot and then on the roadways."

Every time a convicted drunk driver names a bar as their last stop that particular bar gets a letter from the court. Now technically that is not a violation of the state liquor laws. ABCC investigators have to actually witness someone being "over served" before it is a violation.

Bar owners point out while drunk drivers answer the "last drink question" in a courtroom, it is not under oath, so some drivers could be lying.

Managers at Michael's Harborside in Newburyport and JJ's in Northboro also say local police unfairly target them by waiting for people to leave their parking lots.


Here is an additional list of bars which have received notices from the courts this year arranged in numerical order:

Mardi Gras, Springfield: 14
Salty Dog, Springfield: 14
Irish Times, Worcester: 11 (closed)
Michael's Harborside, Newburyport: 10
JJ's Sports Bar and Grill, Northboro: 9
Kings Inn, Dartmouth: 8
Tabu, Saugus: 8
Winterland Country Club, Greenfield: 8
The Tens Club, Salisbury: 7
The Peddler's Daughter, Haverhill: 6
Zachery's, Mashpee: 6
Boulder's Café, Fitchburg: 6
Partner's, Fitchburg: 6

Worcester has six bars that each have (3) three notices:

Centerfolds
Club Red
Doherty's
Jose Murphy's
Lucky Dog
Voodoo Lounge

Boston has one bar with three notices:

Boston Billiards: 3

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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