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A woman has the right to say no and go home alone, South End bar patron is forced to learn
By adamg on Tue, 03/22/2022 - 2:02pm
Update: Licensing Board found Anchovies did nothing wrong.
A woman who'd spent the day drinking with some man she'd met after losing her job realized shortly before 1 a.m. she'd had enough and left Anchovies on Columbus Avenue in the South End to walk home - alone. But he followed her. And two women to whom she'd confided some of her life story at the bar, followed, along with a male friend of theirs, to try to keep the guy from bothering her.
She managed to get home alone - but only because the two men got into a knock-down fight that let her escape, police and the manager of the establishment at 433 Columbus Ave. told the Boston Licensing Board this morning.
According to police and the bar, the woman and the guy came as a couple around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, sat at the bar and each ordered a single drink - the bartender said they seemed fine and the woman had been in the bar before, so he had no reason to think anything was askance.
But as he and police later learned, the woman began talking to two other women nearby and told them what had happened earlier in the day with her losing her job and finding the guy to go drinking with. And it seemed, she'd had some life issues even before getting laid off, specifically problems with other people, including her father, to the point she didn't like letting people know where she lived. As she recounted her story, she seemed to be feeling uncomfortable with the guy and the women grew concerned that the guy might try to take advantage of her.
When she got up to leave shortly before 1 a.m. saying she lived nearby and was going to walk home, they urged the guy to just let her go, but he followed her outside. When they saw him try to grab her by the arm, they followed outside, along with their male friend. That's when the fight began, police say.
BPD Officer Emily LaRosa said the man with the two other women initially just tried to separate the guy and the woman, but then the guy began calling the woman names and shoved the man. The man shoved him back and the guy fell to the ground, but got up and came back at him and pushed him again. The grappling and shoving and punching continued down Columbus for almost a block until the guy got the good Samaritan up against a small fence, where that man lost his balance, breaking his watch on the fence, as the guy came up behind him and got him in a chokehold. But the man was able to break free fairly easily because it turned out the guy was fairly drunk, LaRosa said.
Police found the guy on Columbus, bleeding from the face, with blood on his shirt. He was charged with assault and battery, police records show.
The board decides Thursday whether the bar over-served the suspect and whether the bar could have done anything to prevent the fight.
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Comments
TMI
Seems like a good deal of personal information about this woman was discussed at the hearing for no good reason. Her reasons for wanting to be alone, her loss of job, etc are irreverent as it relates to the bar's actions.
Creepy guy tries to follow woman, other patrons try to stop him, fight ensues.
Yes and no
I agree with your general premise here for sure -- I frequently expert witness on court cases where a whole lot of people's personal shit that's immaterial to the issue is brought up (and sometimes included in published decisions.)
But I think the picture that's being painted here, at least to me, is that this woman spent a lot of time in the bar, not exactly being inconspicuous, and it was probably pretty clear to onlookers that she was vulnerable and in a rough spot. Then the group of people got into it, also likely not inconspicuously, the bar staff had to have observed some degree of the "dude, just let her go home alone," but probably lumped everyone together under however they like to view people drinking and oversharing, thus failed to notice the whole "woman in distress, being followed by guy she doesn't want following her" and make sure she got far enough away/into a cab/whatever without the guy. I'm also not a fan of how this city will blame bars for fights that didn't actually spill out of them, but they do have some responsibility for drunken sketchy shit that starts in their bar and plays out in the bar at some length (illustration of which I think is the intention in bringing up the woman's story). If they can't get some sketchy harasser dude to lay off, they're supposed to call the cops.
If they can't get some
And if they call the cops, what happens? The bar gets hauled before the Licensing Board anyway. Real incentive to report possibly "sketchy" action - not.
Perhaps the Licensing Board should mandate that every bar hire a fortune teller if they are so concerned about "what action the bar could have taken to prevent events that, by their nature, are considered unpredictable.". Provided of course, that the fortune teller display a price list and not have a neon sign.
Oh, for sure
It's set up as a lose-lose situation. You'll get no argument from me there.
I was just pointing out that in this situation, it doesn't seem like anyone's narrative includes the bar staff having even done any "hey what's going on over there" diligence.
Does it always go to the Licensing Board? (Q for Adam G)
Considering that Adam actually pays attention to these hearings and some of them may be far too boring to report to us on, are there times were an establishment has clearly not over-served a patron who then started acting up so the police were called and it was resolved by them? And do they still need to before the Board?
My understanding
The bar *always* needs to go before the board when the cops are called but more often then not the location is found not to be at fault and that's the end.
No question it's a burden for the bar to attend the hearing and hire a lawyer but for most places that's the worst that happens.
It's a high cost to impose
If every time you call the cops you go to a hearing, which costs you a couple of hours of your manager's time plus a couple of hours of your lawyer's time, even at rock bottom prices, that's $1000 and up.
None of these comments are
None of these comments are correct. (Sheesh a lot of you just jump to conclusions).
We are sent to bars very frequently. Only certain circumstances will get the bar sent before the licensing board.
- a Boston Cop
If police issue a citation
Then, yes, it goes before the board.
Not every police call results in a citation, as noted just above, but if police see something that is a potential violation of city or state liquor laws and ordinances (in this case, possible overserving and one patron attacking another, even if just outside the premises), then, yes, they will issue a citation that has to go before the licensing board. I suspect we'll soon see a hearing on what happened at the Sons of Boston on Union Street.
The board is not a courtroom, in the sense that any actual criminal activity (see the Sons of Boston) still has to go through the criminal-justice system, but it does determine who gets to serve liquor and food in Boston and tries to head off inappropriate or even illegal activities at licensed establishments (for example, by sending warning messages to all liquor-license holders about date-rape drugs).
Not even every cop can issue a citation - it has to be done by a sergeant or detective or above. And not every citation results in a violation finding; in fact, seems like most don't.
Hm
So if these establishments, which are granted legal permission to sell an intoxicating drug for consumption, are proactive in fulfilling their legal obligations that come with being allowed to have such a business, they can invite the police to intervene in situations without having to be hauled before the Licensing Board?
I recognize that in the moment, it is not necessarily easy to avoid certain issues, but if you've gone through the process of acquiring ridiculously expensive permission to serve alcoholic beverages, you surely are aware of the responsibilities and additional costs that can come from operating such a business.
Hey Michelle Wu
Read everything above. You alone can end this. Do it.
Bad Taste
Even if her personal problems are in the hearing I'm not sure what benefit it is to your readers.
You'll note I didn't name anybody
I admit I found it interesting that, in 2022, this sort of thing could still be going on, so felt it worthy of note.
Good work, dummy
You could have just gone home to porn, but now, you're going to be a convicted felon. And the rest of us now have to deal with you trying to find a place in civil society. Loser.
I'd like to take a moment
And thank the two women and the guy for giving a shit and having this woman's back.
Too bad it ended in a fight, but you all did good that night.
And I'll thank Anchovies!
As I will in another post.
It's not mentioned in the report but this is a well-run establishment with great staff and regular clientele .
Can definitely see these going much worse at other bars.
What did they do?
I get that you love the place, but what did they do in this situation that helped matters or contributed to a non-tragic outcome?
the regular clientele
is the point.
I used to live across the street on Warren Ave. Anchovies is an gem. Good food, good management, and good regular clientele. Its mostly local people live around the neighborhood, and those who moved away and come for some of Anchovies cheapo dishes. It's not real near anything worth going to, nor does it have parking so most are on foot, so it's not really a 'destination' place to eat. It's just a very very local neighborhoody place.
Furthermore it's cozy in there (when it's busy there's a wait usually), and it's not hard to lean over and talk to a stranger. Plus everyone knows the bartenders and server staff if you're even a infrequent regular (the staff has been the same for years). A good description of Anchovies would be "Cheers" (the TV show, not Bullfinch Tavern). That place where everyone knows your name & they are always glad you came. But with good food.
I'd like to think some of my neighbors were good people who looked out for each other, and for this person. Pilot block, which is the warren ave/columbus/dartmouth block, has a pretty active neighborhood association + watch group.
So I'd like to think some of these people are locals to Anchovies. That neighborhood in general is pretty quiet after 10pm, even with Columbus being a main roadway. So any sort of unusual activity is noticed.
My point is, if you are a regular there, it's not too hard to see when something is off. Especially if someone's had too much to drink and is being harassed by someone.(tbh it sounds like the two girls and their guy friend got a skeevy vibe from the dude, which is why they followed him and her)
Awww
Stuff like this is going to make me miss Boston.
Woman here who had my share
Woman here who had my share of the Golden Age of the Nightclub. The cold hard truth unfortunately is alcohol elevates emotions, we can't drink alone at bars if we are what ignorant society says is good looking or pretty, and there danger zone males out there. Don't go out drinking alone in The Big City if you're female. Many of you will disagree with me.
Shout out to Anchovies
Not sure if their staff had anything to do with this great outcome but they deserve a shout out regardless.
Amazing bartenders (and I'm sure other staff) that look out for their patrons while also keeping the good times rolling.
A hidden gem (to many) in the South End.