A lot of factors played into the incident, including a faulty railing. Spirits also wasn’t certified to have patrons on the second floor. Plus, Keefe was intoxicated and underage. Carisa Buehner, a former bartender who was one of the bar staff that day, served Keefe three vodka drinks without requesting identification.
She was sentenced this week to one year of probation and 50 hours of community service, to be served in a facility like the one Keefe now resides in, after pleading no-contest to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.
Cleveland muni judge Joseph Zone said the timing, a few days away from St. Patrick’s Day, wasn’t a coincidence, according to Cleveland.com.
“I hope every bartender out there hears this and considers this on St. Patrick’s Day and everyday,” Zone said.
***
(Original story 10/6/2017): Via multiple local reports, a bartender who served alcohol to an underage girl who later fell from a second-floor balcony at Spirits Nightclub on St. Patrick’s Day has been criminally charged.
Carisa Buehner, 29, sold three vodka drinks to 20-year-old Megan Keefe without checking her ID, according to investigators. Selling or furnishing alcohol to an underage person is a first degree misdemeanor. Buehner was summoned in July, but has not yet appeared in court. (Fox 8 reports that Buehner no longer lives at her Chardon home.)
Keefe suffered severe head injuries in the fall at the Warehouse District establishment. Spirits was not certified to have patrons on the second floor.
More than six months removed from the incident, Keefe has yet to regain consciousness. She currently resides at a long-term assisted-living facility in Parma and requires round-the-clock care. In a lawsuit filed against the bar, Keefe’s parents estimated that it would cost $10 million to provide care for Keefe for the rest of her life.
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This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2017.
Note to copy editor: a 20-year-old female is an underage woman, not an underage girl.
So many very poor choices led to this disaster. Sadly, it won’t stop certain bars from rolling the dice and serving anyone who walks through the doors….and some underage individuals believing that heavy partying is the adult thing to do.
I’ve never understood this about Ohio’s laws. So what’s the point of having a bouncer checking IDs at the door? It’s frigg’n St Pats day. You think it might have been a little busy and/or crowded in there? Maybe a little too much to count on every bartender to check everyone’s ID for each and every drink they sell? They’re counting on that doorman to do his job, yet there will be no action against him. I feel for this bartender because she’s going to get thrown under the bus big time, and you KNOW Spirits isn’t going to do squat for her except they probably fired her already. Well, the club will get what’s coming to them soon enough. I’m not a huge “throw the book at them” guy when it comes to underage drinking, especially with a 20y.o., but you can’t let people onto a second floor to get blasted if it’s not to code. Numerous reports state that occupying that balcony was not allowed and the club knew it.
Best place to do St. Puketrick’s Day is at home. It’s become even worse than New Year’s Eve.
Gotta wonder what disaster will happen this coming Saturday…SSDY. Stay safe and stay home.