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Lake Dillon Tavern faces underage drinking charges

Joe Moylan
jmoylan@summitdaily.com

The owner and two employees of Lake Dillon Tavern are slated to appear in March before the town of Dillon on charges of Colorado Liquor Code violations.

Brendan Thelan, owner of Lake Dillon Tavern, located at 119 E. LaBonte St., and two of his employees collectively face four counts of serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, one count of serving alcohol to a person under the age of 21, one count of knowingly permitting acts of disorderly conduct and one count of permitting activity offensive to the senses of an average person.

Thelan declined to comment on the charges on Monday.



The charges stem from an incident on Nov. 25, 2013, in which two men were arrested for allegedly being involved in a fight at the bar. The two men, Summit County residents William Enrique Martinez and Alexander Martinez-Orellano, reportedly were visibly intoxicated when Dillon and Silverthorne police officers responded to a call about the fight, according to police records.

Both men were witnessed drinking beer at the Lake Dillon Tavern in the hours before the fight, according to statements given to law enforcement officers. Martinez-Orellano was of legal drinking age at the time of the incident, but Martinez was 12 days removed from his 21st birthday, according to police records. It is unclear whether any Lake Dillon Tavern employees checked his identification before allegedly serving him alcohol.



A hearing scheduled for March 18 will allow Thelan and his employees to defend themselves before the Liquor Licensing Authority. As in many small towns, the Liquor Licensing Authority in Dillon is composed of members of the town council.

On Jan. 7, during a regularly scheduled town council meeting, council members received a summary of the investigation conducted by special prosecutor Kristin Brown. If the employees are found guilty of the charges, Lake Dillon Tavern’s liquor license could be suspended or revoked in accordance with Colorado Revised Statutes and/or town of Dillon ordinances.


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