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Craig’s to face Liquor Board for October raid

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Last Thursday, five Loyola students were cited by the Baltimore City Police Department’s Vice squad at Favorites Pub for underage drinking, according to Loyola Campus Police. This incident comes after an October raid of Favorites—known among students as Craig’s—which found the establishment nearly full of underage patrons.

On October 25, a total of 102 underage individuals were found at both Craig’s and Maxie’s, all of whom were Loyola students or friends of students.

Timothy Fox, director of Public Safety, explained that the raid was a collaboration between Loyola Campus Police and the BCPD. Despite the aid from officers from the Northern District, no police report was filed regarding the incident.

Sheldon Jones, chief inspector for the Baltimore City Liquor Board, said “It would’ve been normal procedure…with that number of kids there should have been a report filed.”

Since the incident, the liquor board has launched an investigation into Craig’s, leaving Jones unable to comment on many of the details regarding the case. There is a hearing scheduled later this month to determine the consequences the establishment will face.

“This board does not tolerate underage drinking or selling to an underage person,” said Jones. “So the board makes a ruling…based upon the bar, the past history of the bar and the number of students—which I think is a great number of students.”

The establishment could be closed entirely, or have its liquor license suspended for anywhere from a week to a month. Under Maryland state law, furnishing alcohol to minors is a misdemeanor, which can lead to a conviction with a fine of up to $2,500 for a first conviction, or up to $5,000 for second and subsequent convictions.

While Craig’s is likely to face legal ramifications, the students who were at the bar will not.

The individuals “cited” at the time of the raid were issued what is essentially a receipt for an interaction with an officer. There were no violations listed, nor was there any kind of fine. The location listed is the address of Public Safety, not Craig’s.

The capacity of Craig’s is 170. Fox said there were about 160 in the bar that night, about 25 of whom were of age. The underage patrons that night were issued no-trespass orders stating that they are unable to enter the establishment until they are 21.

Maryland state law considers an underage citation a civil offense, meaning that the individual will not receive a criminal conviction or jail time as a result of the citation, though fines are often a penalty. The same holds true if the individual is in possession of a fake ID, with additional penalties from the Motor Vehicle Administration.

A student who was at Craig’s the night of the raid said the BCPD officers entered the bar with Loyola officers. They then asked if any of the patrons were from Johns Hopkins or Towson, to which the crowd responded with loud booing. When asked if anyone was from Loyola, the student said the crowd cheered, at which point he said the BCPD officers said they would let Loyola handle the situation.

The student said everyone was transported via bus from Craig’s to the office of Public Safety at 5104 York Rd.

“A Loyola police officer escorted us to a conference room where a Baltimore Police officer was writing out citations. They asked for your name, your address and your student ID number,” said the sophomore student, who asked to remain anonymous.

The student said the only contact he’s received since then was an email from Student Life stating that they know of his involvement in the situation. There were no sanctions placed upon him from Student Life. He said that the email didn’t seem like they were concerned with the safety of the students, but rather that they wanted to scare the students with the numbers.

Fox said that BCPD has used discretion in allowing Campus Police to “adjudicate the numbers that are ours.”

Both Fox and Maj. Sean Kapfhammer, deputy director of Public Safety, were adament that Loyola students do not get special treatment in situations like that at Craig’s in October.

“Really, nobody is treated any differently,” said Kapfhammer.

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  • L

    Lou louJan 9, 2015 at 5:44 am

    Looks like BC’s right there in the sandbox with Loyola! Didn’t read it all but hope they have the hospital all set up too. Ugh! BTW 10/25 was Meredith’s bday and she had this posted on FB. Hmmmmmmmm

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  • A

    AnonymousDec 13, 2014 at 11:15 am

    I love how they refer to us as “kids.” Last time I checked, I’m 20. I can vote. I can smoke. I can join the army and fight for my country, but I can’t have a drink at a bar with my friends, and I find that to be very sad. Loyola should really stop sacrificing its students in order to get Craig’s to close. If BPD wants to do something about it, that’s completely understandable, but Loyola has no place being there.

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Craig’s to face Liquor Board for October raid