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Man charged with chomping cop trying to get him to pay his bar bill at East Boston eatery

A man who didn't want to pay his $60.46 bar bill at Taco Mex in Maverick Square last month sent a BPD officer to Mass. General after biting him in the arm, police say.

Testifying before the Boston Licensing Board this morning, an A-7 officer said he and other officers were summoned to the restaurant around 5:15 p.m. on March 12 to help convince the man to pay his tab, which he'd accumulated in four and a half hours of beer drinking with three other people.

The officer said the man, who'd quietly refused to pay his bill, became loud and obnoxious when officers arrived. When one officer, speaking to him in Spanish, told him he would be pat frisked, he allegedly slurred: "If I had a gun, I would've shot you, you guys would already be dead."

The officer who testified said that despite the mouthing off, another officer tried to reason with him and make him pay the bill. After several entreaties, however, the man continued to refuse and the officers moved closer to arrest him, he said.

Instead of going quietly, however, the man shoved the officer and the fight was on: Before that officer and the others could get him to the ground, he bit the officer in the right bicep hard enough to break his skin - which eventually meant a trip to Mass. General for the officer to get checked out. Once cuffed and transported to A-7, the man refused to go through the booking process and was placed in a cell to sleep it off, before he was booked the next morning, he said.

Silvia Guzman, the restaurant's attorney, said the man was a Taco Mex regular who had never before caused any problems, had been there for about 4 1/2 hours buying beers for himself and three other people and remained calm when it was time to settle up and for some reason refused.

She said the man never appeared drunk and that she does not know what happened in his interactions with police to set him off.

A BPD sergeant who also responded to the scene, however, said the guy was "extremely intoxicated ... he was very, very drunk."

The licensing board decides Thursday whether the restaurant could have done anything to prevent the incident and, if so, what sort of punishment to levy.

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Comments

For what it's worth, Taco Mex is a sit-down restaurant, not a bar.

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But the tab in question was just for drinks.

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I know, just addressing the last paragraph.

That said, is that legal in Boston to order drinks without food at a restaurant? I know it's the way for sitting at most patios (which is absolutely insane), but wasn't sure re: establishments that are restaurants first and foremost.

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That's what happens when you write the same basic thing over and over again and don't even realize what you've written. Thanks for spotting it, fixed.

As for your question, I suspect it *could* be legal, but in most cases now, the board adds a requirement that drinks only be served with meals at tables. But this place wasn't cited for that, so maybe it's not a requirement of their license.

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i live in east boston, taco mex is a small sit down restaurant that does not have a bar. Their staff is very friendly and the food and drinks there are exceptional. I highly recommend going there and having the nachos or a burrito, both are top notch.

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$60.46 bar bill

four and a half hours of beer drinking with three other people

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Not quite as good if the three others with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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the son has this one crazy trick with water that vineyards hate

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