La Plata, MD – The Charles County Board of License Commissioners (Liquor Board) faced down Memories Bar in Waldorf Thursday, April 13, and while property owner Thomas R. Mueller Jr. was all but exonerated of five serious charges facing the establishment, proprietor Donald Robert Downing may not be so lucky.
The Liquor Board decided that they would hold the property owner in abeyance for three years should any further charges come before the board should the building there house another business like Memories, a bar and nightclub. The board said it would pursue criminal charges against Downing.
“Memories was evicted from the licensed premises by the landlord March 16,” Liquor Board Secretary Lisa Bailey announced to the board. “The licensees turned in their license to the Liquor Board March 16,” she added.
Bailey said the establishment was facing five charges including unruly crowds in the parking lot of the business on 2360 Old Washington Road in Waldorf, “hundreds of calls” regarding fights, stabbings and firearms. There were two counts of patrons consuming alcohol at the establishment after 2 a.m. and the bar remained opened after 2 a.m.
Master Cpl. Judith Thompson noted that in June 2016 someone other than the licensee had added a violation of the license by adding an unauthorized name to the license. Then on Sept. 9 of last year, a server provided a Bud Light to an underage person at the bar.
The license will expire April 30, Bailey told the assembly.
Board members voted to retire into closed session to discuss legal options and returned with a verdict.
“The license has been turned in,” said Liquor Board Chair Pamela Smith. “They are no longer in the establishment. We have consulted with counsel and we are going to hold these charges in abeyance for three years and hold the person running the establishment in criminal contempt.”
“That would be acceptable,” Mueller’s attorney, Kevin Smith, told the board.
“If you come back in the next three years, this will pop back up,” Pamela Smith stated. “We’re going after the person who was running the establishment for criminal charges,” she added.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com