KnightNews.com’s Breaking News Coverage of Bar Busts
Safety — By Staff on September 18, 2009 at 11:44 pmPlease visit this link to read our updated report on this major story:
http://knightnews.com/2009/09/ucf-helped-organize-undercover-drinking-stings/
Below is an archive of our breaking news coverage of the arrests at several UCF area bars as they happened:
UPDATE Sunday 1:32 a.m.
KnightNews.com is still working to figure out how many UCF students, and how many local bars, had encounters with law enforcement conducting an apparent underage drinking sting late Friday night.
Knightnews.com has been unable to reach appropriate law enforcement officials over the weekend to figure out what, if anything, sparked this operation that impacted several UCF area bars.
We are working to either confirm or rule out rumors that law enforcement’s reported use of decoys to catch bartenders serving underage was sparked by a recent DUI death.
If you have information about this situation you’d like to share, e-mail us at news@knightnews.com. We will not use your name in our coverage if you request we don’t.
UPDATE: 2:55 a.m.
The underage drinking crackdowns at bars appear to be over for the night, but KnightNews.com is receiving tips of DUI checkpoints near Mcculloch Road and Alafaya Trail still in effect.
As of this update, both bartenders we mentioned earlier, who reportedly work at Scoop, are still listed as inmates in the Orange County Jail. However, their status has changed to “bond pending,” so they should be released relatively soon. Their bond was listed at $250 each, for charges of providing alcohol to someone under the age of 21.
Because this is a breaking news situation, we have not been able to hear the bartenders’ explanation about how or why they became accused, but we’ll give them the opportunity to tell their side of the story when they’re available.
KnightNews.com did get reports that two freshmen were also arrested at Scoop around the same time as the bartenders, however we have not been able to officially confirm that’s the case yet.
According to sources close to UCF’s bars, these underage drinking busts came at least somewhat as a surprise. KnightNews.com initially got reports ATF was behind them, however the jail lists the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as the arresting agency.
It’s still unclear how big and how many agencies the operation involved, however the apparently coordinated underage drinking busts, happening just one day before UCF’s Saturday home football game, raise the question: How heavy will underage drinking enforcement be during the game?
In the morning, KnightNews.com will be all over campus, giving full coverage of the game from the tailgate lots to the football field, so count on us on your computers and on your mobile phones for complete coverage of the UCF vs. Buffalo game at home Satuday, Sept. 19.
Also, if you see breaking news, or have a tip, story idea or pictures or video of news, e-mail us at news@knightnews.com.
UPDATE: 1:44 a.m.
Scanner Chatter: TD’s May Be Next In Underage Bust
Right now KnightNews.com is hearing sheriff’s deputies talking about TD’s Sports Bar on University over a police scanner Web site. One of our readers heard this first, and shared the link to let us know to listen in. It’s unclear if another raid is about to happen there, but it appears likely.
Earlier, KnightNews.com also received tips that Devaney’s was raided by law enforcement after Scoop, but we have not been able to confirm any arrests there at this time.
UPDATE: 1:30 a.m.
BREAKING: At Least 2 Bartenders Arrested, Name Of UCF Area Bar Now Released
KnightNews.com has confirmed at least two UCF bartenders were arrested during an apparent underage drinking sting at Scoop late Friday night.
According to the Orange County jail, Michael Marsh and Derek Gibbons were booked into jail just after midnight on one count each of selling or giving alcohol to a person under 21 years of age.
They had not bonded out as of this update, however, both were eligible for a bond set at $250 each, according to the jail.
UPDATE: 12:40 p.m.
UNDERAGE DRINKING ALERT: Arrests Just Reported at UCF Area Bar
KnightNews.com has received reports of a second instance of law enforcement activity at a another local UCF bar, however, when we called the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to confirm the reports, we were unable to get confirmation.
An Orange County Sheriff’s dispatcher told KnightNews.com that when ATF conducts a raid in the UCF area, the sheriff’s office is “usually given a heads up,” and she was not aware of any warnings issued for tonight.
KnightNews.com got its first reports late Friday night of two bartenders being arrested at a UCF area bar for allegedly trying to serve alcohol to people under 21.
We are still working to confirm those reports, along with reports that freshmen may have been arrested as well.
We are withholding the names of the bars until we get official confirmation, however, our sources told us authorities were expected to be on the lookout for underage drinking throughout the night.
Check back for updates, or send us a tip by e-mailing: news@knightnews.com.
(The above report replaced our original report, first posted 11:44 p.m.)
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9 Comments
scoop needs to be shut down. it is a crap hole for underage drinkers and thugs who wanna fight with baseball bats. it smells every night and they treat their employees like crap. i would know i used to work there. its no wonder those kids got arrested, at scoop ur pratically supposed to be down with serving minors, its part of your job, thats why i quit.
Honestly, the biggest issue with underage drinking in UCF bars is not bartenders serving underage people. I am a frequent at many local bars and everyone is usually really good about checking for wristbands. The people who are drinking underage are almost always getting in with a fake ID or having their friends with wristbands get them drinks.
If the cops really wanted to put a stop to underage drinking, they would be the ones checking IDs at the doors, not getting the hard-working, overwhelmed bartenders in trouble. I guarantee underage drinking would SEVERELY decrease if people knew their IDs were going to be scanned/looked at by a real cop.
The reason OCSO is having these stings is because they are receiving funds from non profit organizations to stop underage drinking. I am sure that all of the bartenders that were arrested friday night do not want underage drinking taking place in their places of work and the fact that their mug shots are up on this website is absolutely RIDICULOUS! They committed misdemeanor crimes and I am sure that what happened was no more than a bad judgement call. I think the fact that they were arrested in front of everyone at Scoop that night is embarrassment enough and there mug shots should have nothing to do with this article. If you are going to do that put up everyones mug shots that gets DUIs or underage drinking arrests because they are the ones making the overall bad decisions and putting these bartenders at risk who want nothing more than to have a job. And instead of OCSO setting up kids who are WORKING and trying to pay their way through college they worry about the kids who are sneaking into these bars underage and consuming alcohol. Overall I think that these articles posted are completely bias because half of what is written is completely untrue! Get your facts right before you go bashing kids who were set up!
‘If you have information about this situation you’d like to share, e-mail us at news@knightnews.com. We will not use your name in our coverage if you request we don’t.’
Well I’m not going to email you because my name is in my address, but heres more facts for you guys:
ATF is never behind any ‘raids’ or any variation of the term around UCF bars. AB&T is. AB&T stands for Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco, which is a sub-department of the DBPR, which is the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
AB&T and OCSO use not ‘decoys’ as you put it, but ‘undercover’ people and officers to perform these ‘stings’, if you will. Just like they do underage stings at liquor and tobacco stores, they use the same criteria here for the UCF bars. A volunteer from the ages of 18-20 MUST enter the establishment under the supervision of a currently employed undercover OCSO officer. The underage volunteer MAY NOT use a fake ID to attain a wristband. If the underage volunteer would do so, it would be called entrapment and be dissmissable in court- not to mention illegal for OCSO and their volunteer to use a fake ID which is illegal for EVERYONE.
These agents will never use credit cards, only cash. The volunteer must always be in sight of the older officer and normally he will be standing within 5-10 feet of the volunteer, which if you’re a smart bartender, is not hard to spot at a UCF bar when everyone is 18-23 and this guy is over 30.
If the bartender serves the underage volunteer and then takes his money, it becomes a complete sting and the uniformed officers may then enter and arrest the bartender.
The goal, as quoted by an OCSO supervisor, of OCSO, is to make UCF bars similar to ‘Disney land bars’. Where not only is everyone ID’d at the front door, but also by each bartender who deems anyone youthful to be under 21. This is by law, reasonable, as it IS the bartenders responsibility as a server, but at the same time is not realistic for UCF bars which cater to over 2000-3000 students who go out each night of the week.
Take their names/mug shots down!! completely unecessary.
In response to the two kids ‘caught’ for serving under age kids (who the cops–with nothing better to do on a Friday night than trick employees who are working hard, trying to earn money by cleaning up after drunk college kids, trying to earn enough money to live), I have to say that it is really ridiculous that 1. Mug shots were posted since they do not further the story, but only make an example of two kids to instill fear within other potential under age drinkers (this is an amazing example of the media using their power to send a biased message at the cost of two young men’s reputations and furthermore, using the media to propagandize fear and therefore gain control of people–a device used by all major political parties from dictatorships to democracies) . That may sound extreme, but posting mug shots to me is pointless and extreme in its own context. 2. Couldn’t police be out trying stop drunk drivers or keeping an eye on people within the bar, falling all over themselves and then walking to their car? Rather than a 20 year old kid who gets his first drink? Reeeaaaly?
These two kids were just made to look like experienced convicts and I bet they are two decent kids who work just like everyone else. It’s not like they were sneaking alcohol to friends, taking advantage of their authority (unlike the media and police). They were in a tight pressured situation wherein they failed to check a wristband amongst all the craziness. They made a mistake. An illegal mistake which is humiliating enough, so why post photos? So people with nothing better to do can point on campus or feel better about themselves by connecting a face to a name and willingly think to themselves, “Oh s**t, that sucks. I’m glad that’s not me!” Seriously, the cops and media need to be aware of themselves before they make such effective decisions and realize the opportunity cost at stake.
Your information is nor correct or complete. To shot girls at TD’s were arrested, as well as bartenders from Amigos, Jake and Mickeys, Tristan from Devaneys (The owners son), and Friendly Confines. ATF was not behind the stings, while Orange County Sheriffs office WAS.
OCSO is doing this because back last Spring, a 17 year old driver was killed after leaving TD’s and underage drinking. That’s why TD’s changed their name to Knight Lights for a short time, about 3 weeks, and then changed back after the parents of the kid chose to sue their old LLC and OCSO for letting the kid drive home and kill himself, not to mention drink underage at TDs. Now OCSO feels responsible and is taking action.
If you are to write Scoop all over this article, be sure to add the other names of businesses who were also part of this county-wide operation. The only reason no bartenders from Knight Library were arrested is because they recieved texts from their friends before the officers had a chance to come in with their undercovers.
The OCSO undercover operation works much like an AB&T (Not ATF, they dont do anything) operation. An underage patron enters without a wristband, they are not allowed to use a fake ID to get in, and an older officer observes him while he attempts to order a drink.
If you want to post the truth, post that.