Beehive Bar Won’t Be Cited in March 14 Incident

, which came under scrutiny by St. Charles officials after a March 14 incident in which an intoxicated man who had been in the bar earlier made several calls to an elderly woman’s apartment asking her to open the door, will not be cited in the incident.

Police cited John J. Palomo, 32, of Streamwood, with disorderly conduct-public drunkenness for his role in the incident. He was cited at 3:08 a.m., and told officers he had called the elderly resident in an attempt to get inside the apartment building in the 200 block of North 2nd Street so he could get warm.

But Palomo also told police he had spent the night drinking at The Beehive and produced some credit card receipts to prove it, and that prompted the officers to report the bar to the St. Charles Liquor Commission for a possible citation on harboring an intoxicated person.

Mayor Donald DeWitte, the St. Charles liquor commissioner, said no citations would be issued against The Beehive, which was fined earlier this month on two unrelated liquor code violations.

DeWitte noted that Palomo was cited more than an hour after the city’s bars are required to close, and he was not in a bar at that point. Further, DeWitte said additional investigation by St. Charles police indicated Palomo had left The Beehive at about 12:30 a.m. That left more than 2½ hours for which the man’s location could not be accounted for, DeWitte said, ruling out a citation.

Local drinking establishments have been under a St. Charles City Council microscope for a number of issues related to over-serving alcohol — largely a spike in public fighting and incidents of public urination in the downtown area involving individuals who police said have been highly intoxicated.

In response, the city raised fines for public drunkenness and public urination to $100, and for fighting to $500, but also has been pressuring the downtown drinking establishments to stop over-serving patrons and to abide more closely to related requirements spelled out in the liquor code:

Serving alcohol to an intoxicated person is prohibited.

Harboring an intoxicated person, which essentially means the establishments must not allow an intoxicated person to enter their establishments, or, if a patron is determined to be intoxicated, must ask the person to leave, perhaps by calling a cab for them or making arrangements for the individual to get a ride home from a friend.

Steve Baginski, the owner of The Beehive, has been a leader of the downtown bar owners, who formed the St. Charles Tavern Association in an effort to coordinate the bars’ and restaurants’ response to City Council demands that efforts be made to curb the problems in the city’s entertainment district.

Baginski had not returned an emailed request for comment on this story.

Related:

• March 19, 2013: Phone Calls to Elderly Resident Lead to Potential Bar Citation
• March 4, 2013:
• Feb. 14, 2013: Beehive Cited in Connection to St. Charles DUI Crash
• Feb. 6, 2013: Will DUI Crash Fuel Fire for St. Charles Tavern Association?
• Feb. 6, 2013: What Police Reported to the St. Charles Liquor Commission
• Nov. 6, 2012: St. Charles Council Casts Jaundiced Eye on Downtown Bars