Business & Tech

The Beach House Closes for Good

The Town Clerk confirmed that The Beach House's license was surrendered earlier that day and a sign posted on the door stated "The Beach Hou

The day before the The Beach House was subject to a liquor license review at Monday night’s Town Council meeting after a series of problematic incidents highlighted by the police chief, the bar was abruptly closed and its liquor license was surrendered.

As a result, nobody from the bar appeared at Town Hall last night, rendering the review “moot,” said Police Chief Thomas F. Lee.

The Town Clerk confirmed that The Beach House’s license was surrendered earlier that day and a sign posted on the door stated “The Beach House will be closed until further notice.”

Town Council President James Seveney said it’s a shame that the business had so many problems, saying it “had a lot of potential to be a good business,” EastBayRI.com reported.

In a letter to the Board of License Commissioners requesting the hearing, the chief highlighted three incidents involving staff either drinking while on duty, driving drunk after work or drinking with patrons at the bar long past closing time.

On May 15, Lee said, police were conducting a compliance check of town liquor establishments for the illegal sale of alcohol to minors and while at the Beach House Tavern, they saw a bartender drink two shots of alcohol and then finish off a customer’s beer.

The next day, police saw lights on inside the building at 1:58 a.m. After three knocks on the door, the bartender reportedly answered the door and appeared drunk. Police said she was inside the bar with three patrons and told police she thought they were allowed to stay until 1:30 a.m.

On June 2, police responded to a crash near Park Avenue and Boyd’s Lane and arrested Kayla Carreira at 1:22 a.m. for driving drunk after she reportedly told police she had drank before leaving her job as a bartender at the Beach House Tavern.

Carreira reportedly crashed and her car came to a rest on top of a “keep right” sign.

In his letter, Lee requested the Town Council address the incidents at their June 23 meeting.

Those incidents aren’t the only issues facing the Beach House. Its owner, Kenneth J. O’Brien, is awaiting sentencing for tax evasion charges to which he pleaded no contest in May for keeping two sets of books and bilking the Internal Revenue Service of nearly $1 million in taxes.

And earlier this month, O’Brien was charged with domestic simple assault for allegedly dragging a woman down a flight of stairs and punching her.

Now, since the license has been surrendered, the business would have to reapply or start from scratch if it were to open again, town officials said.


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