• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




After large disturbance, ORPD warns restaurant to avoid over-serving alcohol

Posted at 2:48 pm March 16, 2013
By John Huotari 2 Comments

One month after a large reported disturbance, the city’s deputy police chief told the owners of a popular restaurant and bar in central Oak Ridge that they need to monitor customers who are drinking and not serve people who have consumed too much alcohol.

The warning to the owners of Lincoln’s Sports Grille came during a Monday meeting of the Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board.

That board had called a show cause hearing for Lincoln’s, which is on South Illinois Avenue, after a Feb. 10 fight that reportedly started as an argument between two men over a woman and escalated into a large disturbance that required an entire shift of police officers to respond.

Oak Ridge Deputy Police Chief Alan Massengill said officers found many intoxicated people at the restaurant that night, more than the on-duty shift could handle.

“This one was way out of line,” he said.

ORPD Lt. Brad Jenkins said there were reports of fights inside the restaurant and outside in the parking lot. People were running from the diner and leaving in cars when police arrived, he said.

“About as quickly as we got there, the fighting stopped,” Jenkins said.

He said “it was very crowded” inside—he estimated more than 200 people were at the restaurant, which has a capacity of 270—and people were standing in booths and on chairs “filming the action” just after midnight that Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Scott Green and Mike Lincoln, two of Lincoln’s owners, said they thought the disturbance had been brought under control that night, but one man involved in the initial midnight argument “would not calm down” and friends started fighting.

It was reported to be mostly broken up when police arrived, and Lincoln’s shut down early. The two men who started the fight have been banned from the restaurant. Another man was arrested for public intoxication.

Massengill said Lincoln’s has a history of cooperating and calling the police when needed. There has been no prior disciplinary action against Lincoln’s. This was the only large-scale disturbance at the restaurant, Massengill said, but the problem was the level of intoxication.

During Monday’s hearing, he cited two other recent incidents, including an arrest this month of a man who was allegedly driving under the influence at 56 mph in a 40 mph speed zone. The man said he had been drinking at Lincoln’s, Massengill said.

“Now we’re starting to see the level of intoxication pick up on patrons that are in there and leaving, and not being cut off,” Massengill told Green and Lincoln. “If your staff is not cutting them off, then we’re headed for a problem.”

Green told the Beer Board, which has the power to revoke or suspend a beer permit or issue a fine, that he thinks servers at Lincoln’s do a good job monitoring customers. He outlined measures the bar currently takes to monitor customers, including checking their ages, serving chips and salsa to those who appear under the influence, and refusing to serve people who seem inebriated when they arrive at the bar.

Green said the restaurant’s servers go through Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission training, and the head bartender is an ABC trainer.

“We cut people off that appear to be highly intoxicated,” Green said. “I feel like we do a really good job with that.”

He said the police call volume at Lincoln’s is relatively low.

“We always try to watch the over-serving,” Green said. “I would hope our history would say that we’ve been pretty good with the amount of business we have.”

Massengill said the police department is comfortable with allowing Lincoln’s to continue operating as long as they start monitoring customers and cutting people off.

Green told Beer Board members that Lincoln’s needs “to tighten up on cutting people off.”

The Beer Permit Board agreed in a 6-0 vote that Lincoln’s had adequately demonstrated that the board should not take action against its permit, although the restaurant needs to file new permit paperwork to show a management change before an April 8 meeting.

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Alan Massengill, alcohol, argument, beer permit, Brad Jenkins, disturbance, drinking, fight, intoxication, Lincoln's Sports Grille, Mike Lincoln, Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, public intoxication, Scott Green, show cause hearing, South Illinois Avenue

Advertisements

 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Business News

VITA Tax Center opens Feb. 9

The Oak Ridge Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) is now in its fourth decade of helping community residents to complete and file tax returns. The 2021 VITA Tax Center will open on Tuesday, February 9, and it … [Read More...]

Council to consider accepting airport grants

This is an aerial image of a layout plan for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority) The Oak Ridge City Council will consider … [Read More...]

Mason, an IDB member, community volunteer, dies of COVID complications

David Mason David Lane Mason, a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board and community volunteer, died of COVID-19 complications on Monday. He was 79. Mason was a former deputy director of environmental … [Read More...]

Which Wich closes

Which Wich restaurant on Oak Ridge Turnpike closed Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. The Which Wich restaurant on Oak Ridge Turnpike closed on Thursday, December 31. The Which Wich corporate office and Oak Ridge location … [Read More...]

Drone class to take flight this spring at Roane State

A new class in piloting small unmanned aircraft, better known as drones, will take flight this spring at Roane State Community College. The three credit-hour class – AERO 1030 W01 – will prepare students to take the … [Read More...]

More Business

More Police and Fire News

Crews repairing damage after crash knocks down power tower

Crews repair the damage to the Tennessee Valley Authority distribution system after a pickup truck crashed into a steel lattice transmission tower, causing widespread power outages in Oak Ridge and the surrounding area … [Read More...]

Part of South Illinois Ave. remains closed

A large high-voltage transmission tower was knocked down in a single-vehicle crash at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, 2021, causing widespread power outages. Repairs are being … [Read More...]

Power restored to Oak Ridge except for Arboretum

Electric crews repair the damage caused by a crash into a TVA high-voltage transmission tower next to South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge) Power was restored … [Read More...]

Charges pending, three injured in crash into TVA transmission tower

Charges are pending after a crash into an electrical transmission tower that caused widespread power outages Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, 2021, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

Large transmission tower knocked down, causing power outages

A large electrical transmission tower was knocked down in a crash at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, 2021, causing widespread power outages. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

More Police and Fire

Recent Posts

  • Crews repairing damage after crash knocks down power tower
  • Part of South Illinois Ave. remains closed
  • Power restored to Oak Ridge except for Arboretum
  • Charges pending, three injured in crash into TVA transmission tower
  • Large transmission tower knocked down, causing power outages
  • Protesters will say nuclear weapons illegal under UN treaty
  • VITA Tax Center opens Feb. 9
  • Roane State temporarily closes Coffey-McNally Building
  • TVA will blast rock to build substation
  • Council to consider accepting airport grants

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today