SPRINGDALE (KFSM) — The Arkansas Alcohol Beverage Control Division voted Wednesday (Aug. 17) to suspend the Springdale Civic Center’s alcohol permit instead of revoking it completely.
ABC Director Bud Roberts said the Civic Center will not be able to serve alcohol to its patrons until Jan. 1, 2017 and after that will have to stop serving alcohol at 1 a.m. for the whole year. Prior to that, the Civic Center could serve alcohol until 2 a.m.
Roberts said the venue will also have to get an electronic photo ID scanner instead of checking IDs by hand.
The ABC Board voted 3 to 2 to amend the Civic Center’s license revocation to a suspension.
Roberts decided to revoke the venue’s license in June after two men died in an alcohol-related crash in March after leaving the venue.
In March, Julio Cesar Galan-Picasso, who was 19, and two of his friends came to the Civic Center and were given wrist bands that indicated they were over the age of 21, even though Galan-Picasso was not of legal age to be served alcohol, Roberts said. Later that night, Galan-Picasso drove his truck into a tree, killing both of his passengers.
Roberts said the crash took place while the venue was already under probation for separate incidents.
Even though the ABC Board overturned his decision, Roberts said they did uphold the facts of his case against the Civic Center.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story stated all three men involved in the fatal crash were underage. That has since been corrected.
