UPDATE: A Covina bar will not lose its state liquor license for serving drinks to the convicted killer of three, including Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart (see end of post) . . .
State investigators are taking a closer look into convicted killer Andrew Gallo's drinking binge that led to last year's crash that killed Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others.
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The California Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC), which
licenses, monitors complaints and fines law violating bars, restaurants
and liquor stores, is observing surveillance video from The Well bar in
Covina where Gallo, who already had two DUI convictions on his record,
and his stepbrother pounded drinks for hours before the early morning
April 9, 2009, tragedy.
ABC's investigators will try to determine from the video if the bar knowingly over-served alcohol to Gallo. That determination will inform the agency whether to take action against The Well.
During his trial last month, it was revealed Gallo had a beer and a shot at another bar before going to The Well where, over nearly three hours, he drank five beers (two of them three-pint
“boombahs”) and four shots of a sake-like drink.
He was convicted Sept. 27 of second degree murder in
the deaths of 22-year-old Adenhart, 20-year-old Courtney Stewart and 25-year-old
Henry Pearson.
A resident of San Gabriel, Gallo qualified for murder charges instead of, say, manslaughter counts because this was not the first time he drove under the influence, nor was it the first time he was in court on DUI, the Orange County District Attorney's Office explained.
Gallo knew from his previous experience of driving under the influence how dangerous he could be, maintained prosecutors, who added he previously signed a court form stating he understood he could be charged with murder if he killed someone while driving drunk.
He faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison at his sentencing scheduled for Dec. 10 in Santa Ana.
UPDATE: There was not enough evidence to revoke The
Well's liquor license as the surveillance video does not demonstrate that Gallo
displayed obvious signs of intoxication, he ABC concluded. The Orange County Register has the full scoop.
