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South End bar given okay to reopen

E-mail|Link|Comments () August 26, 2009 04:18 PM

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The Boston Licensing Board today returned the liquor license to a South End restaurant that played an indirect role in the beating death last Friday of a Boston man who was attacked by a dozen men, some wearing tuxedos.

IN a 3-0 vote, the board concluded that the 33 Restaurant & Lounge and its staff should not be sanctioned for the death of 22-year-old Jose Alicea who sustained fatal head injuries during a fracas with at least a dozen men about 25 minutes after the nightspot closed.

"We found no fault on the part of the licensee,'' said Daniel Pokaski, chair of the three-person panel, which voted unanimously for reopening. "They did everything that was expected.''

Owner Greg Den Herder said in a telephone interview that he expects to reopen to the public on Thursday at 5 p.m., the usual opening time for dinner. Since it has been closed since last Friday, Den Herder said the restaurant needed time to replenish its supplies.

"I believe our security system and our process that we have in place at the 33 Restaurant & Lounge are by no means faulty,'' Den Herder said. "Unfortunately, the circumstances were really out of our control.''

Another regulator, the Mayor's Office of Licensing and Consumer Affairs has not yet decided whether to return its entertainment license. Den Herder said that after 11 p.m., the restaurant shifts to a lounge with a DJ providing entertainment.

Alicea, according to authorities and security staff at the lounge, after he argued with the men over a cigarette. Twelve men have been charged in connection with Alicea's death and all have pleaded not guilty.

Nine of the men were wearing tuxedos with red vests and ties and law enforcement sources have told the Globe, some are members of a street gang in Lynn. However, some defense attorneys have said the men were honoring a friend who died in a motorcycle crash by wearing the same clothing he was buried in.

Pokaski said that the staff at the South End restaurant asked police to return to the area at closing time, that staffers tried to prevent an argument between Alicea and the men from escalating, and that after the beating they provided police with information about the assailants and also handed over security camera footage from internal and eternal cameras.

"They tried to diffuse the situation when it got out of hand, they immediately called the police,;'' Pokaski said. "If someone comes in dressed nicely, but maybe similarly, but nicely, and they hang around for a couple of h ours, having a good time, not misbehaving - how can you hold a licensee responsible? I just don't see it.''