NORTHAMPTON — Less than a month since The Tellus & the Satellite Bar restaurant and nightclub was placed on probation after an overcrowding incident, the club’s owners returned to the License Commission where they were found not to be in violation of serving to someone under the age of 21 .
Firefighters and police officers joined License Commission members and Satellite co-owners Amanda Riseling and Nhan Bui at a public hearing at City Council Chambers on Monday. Officer Nicholas Spath described responding to the parking lot shared by Satellite and the Northampton Recovery Center at 1:06 a.m. May 17 to find a young man “unconscious on the ground” with “clear liquid coming out of his mouth.”
“Upon my arrival, I observed a male lying on the sidewalk in front of the Northampton Recovery Center. A clear liquid, which appeared to be vomit, was on the ground next to the male and on the left side of his face,” Spath said before the commission. “He gave me his Massachusetts driver’s license … when he handed me his license, I noticed it was an under 21-year-old’s license because it was oriented vertical. I asked [him] where he was prior to me making contact with him, he stated he was at Tellus and Satellite Bar.”
The 20-year-old man initially told officers that he had walked to Satellite Bar alone — a statement that police questioned, given that the young man lives in Williamsburg. Spath said the man, when further questioned, told him that he and a group of about 10 people went out drinking.
Spath added that the 20-year-old told officers he used his brother’s expired driver’s license to get into the club. The officer went on to describe that the 20-year-old had a stamp on his hand consistent with the ones bar security imprints on patrons’ hands to signify that the customers are older than 21.
“The stamp on the hand of [the 20-year-old] was slightly smudged, but appeared to be the same color, black, and the same design stamp on [his brother’s] hand,” Spath said. “Based on the stamps on their hands and their statements that they were in the bar, it was reasonable to believe that they were both allowed into Tellus by Tellus staff.”
Following Spath’s testimony, Peter Irvine, an attorney hired by the club, questioned the officer about his account of the incident.
Irvine first asked if his report included descriptions or copies of handstamps used at the Satellite Bar, or any other Northampton establishment the night of the incident, to which Spath replied that it did not.
The attorney continued his line of questioning, asking the officer if he was aware of the different colors and designs, left or right hand placements, Satellite and other establishments’ stamps offer, with Spath responding in the negative each time.
When Irvine, noting that the 20-year-old reportedly told officers he had been at Satellite prior to the revelation that he had used a fraudulent ID, asked the officer whether he thought it was reasonable to assume that the patron had a “motive to obscure where he had been,” the officer responded “I suppose.”
After another witness, appearing to be a young man, was called to speak and answer the License Commissioner’s questions, Irvine asked the commission if the new witness had been made aware of his right to legal council, or the fact that his testimony could result in his self-incrimination. Following Irvne’s statement, the witness, without saying anything, left the podium and declined to speak.
Police Chief John Cartledge, noting that the department uses significant staff hours enforcing the law or bolstering public safety at the bar, suggested that Satelitte’s license be suspended for two days citing the facts of the case and a previous violation.
“… The amount of manpower and time that our staff spends down there, especially on the weekends [and] the fact that the person in this case, reported to being in Tellus and an expired ID was used, I would recommend a two-day suspension,” the chief said.
In their deliberations, commission members suggested that Riseling secure an ID scanner, as License Commissioner Amy Cahillane explained that the bar owners had come before the License Commission three times already and urged them to take every precaution necessary to avoid another violation hearing.
“When I read the police report, my initial gut [reaction] was ‘This is the third time Tellus has come in front of us.’ It was really frustrating,” Cahillane said. “It felt relatively clear cut to me, but knowing that there is a question about the stamp on the hand and there isn’t any documentation to show that they actually spent dollars in the bar … I am wrestling a little bit with the clarity around whether this really is a violation that is held by Tellus.”
The License Commission handed Tellus a one-day liquor license suspension followed by six months of probation last month after finding that it operated above its license’s capacity on April 19.
On Monday, License Commissioners voted 2-1 that Satellite was not in violation of underaged service, with member Natasha Yakovlev dissenting.
“If the illegality that’s being addressed is the sale or delivery of an alcoholic beverage to a person under the age of 21 or allowance of a person under 21 to the nightclub, I’m not sure that I can feel like I can say it’s probable that happened,” Cahillane said. “There wasn’t enough to find a violation and I don’t want you to be punished for something that we can’t prove. I also would deeply love to only encounter you inside of Tellus and not at a License Commission meeting.”
