Kurosawa would have appreciated Boston Licensing Board hearings

The Boston Licensing Board today heard such differing accounts of what happened one January night at the Rumor nightclub that board Chairman Daniel Pokaski wondered at one point if both parties were talking about the same incident.

Incidents at two other Boston establishments will also force the board to consider what the hell actually happened.

A Rhode Island woman testified she was at Rumor, 100 Warrenton St., with one other friend when a group of other women and then men began attacking her for no reason - and that by the time they were done, she was on the floor, unconscious, with a bruised eye and a drink being poured on her head. Then, club workers refused to call police, she said, adding she has had seizures since the incident.

The club said she was there with a large group of women who were getting so out of control they were asked to leave - and threatened to sue the club because one of them lost her cell phone. No fight happened that night, and that's why club officials said they taped over video of the floor that night.

Boston Police Det. Kenneth Dorch, who investigated the incident, sided with the woman, telling the board "I have no reason at all not to believe her." Club manager Tom Montgomery said a passing Boston police officer was flagged down by the woman and refused to intercede because the club had done nothing wrong. That officer did not appear at today's hearing and Montgomery said that it was pointless to ask for his attendance because officers rarely make such appearances.

Pokaski said he found it hard to believe the woman would be so vindictive as to make up a story and then travel all the way up from Rhode Island to testify before the board. The board will decide on Thursday what, if anything, to do. In March, the board ordered Rumor to shut for two days for serving alcohol to minors.

Also this morning, a man who calls himself a regular at Underbar, also on Warrenton Street, told the board he was punched in the face by a bouncer. The club's head of security told the board he was the one who escorted the guy out of the club for touching and groping women who didn't want to be touched or groped on the club stage, that he never hit the guy, that he'd never seen him before.

The board also heard wildly conflicting stories about an under-21 woman caught with three bottles of beer outside Cityside in Cleveland Circle on March 31.

A Boston police officer said she told him she got the beers inside and that she claimed her ID was still in the bar - but that when club workers escorted them to where she'd been sitting, there was no purse and no ID. A restaurant manager, however, said the woman must've gotten the beers elsewhere, because they were Keystones, which his establishment doesn't serve. The police officer responded that at least two of the beers were Miller Lites, which the manager conceded one can buy at Cityside.

Board member Michael Connolly said that regardless of what happened, Cityside had a responsibility to keep the area out front clear of people with open containers of alcohol. The manager said that the night in question was the night before spring break and it was hard to control the crowds wandering over from other establishments, such as Mary Ann's.