By Matthew K. Roy
PEABODY — The Willowtree Restaurant received a five-day suspension of its liquor license for serving alcohol after its permitted hours.
The Licensing Board unanimously voted in favor of the penalty following a hearing on Monday when police submitted evidence detailing the infraction.
Around 2 a.m. on Jan. 10, a Sunday, police found four customers, a bartender and the restaurant's owner in the restaurant on Washington Street. All "appeared to be intoxicated," according to a police report. An officer also observed two mixed drinks and a beer on the bar.
In Peabody, liquor license holders must stop serving alcohol at 1 a.m., all glasses have to be removed from the bar by 1:15 a.m. and customers have to be off the premises by 1:30 a.m.
In his report, Officer James Harkins said that owner Frank Bolognese "as unsteady on his feet" and "slurring his speech." At one point, when Bolognese believed that Harkins had exited the restaurant, the owner said, "Everyone go to the upstairs apartment; these (expletive) cops suck and they will nab you," Harkins said in his report.
Bolognese was sorry about what happened, Licensing Board Chairman Minas Dakos said. But, given that the restaurant was caught selling alcohol to an underage customer during a sting last May, a stiff penalty was warranted, Dakos said.
The board will decide when the suspension will be served at its next meeting on Feb. 22. No one answered the phone at the restaurant yesterday afternoon.
