I am told by someone who has a bird’s-eye-view that there was an incident involving the arrest of the owner of the Dubliner early Thursday morning… there is no mention in the SUN… but I certainly hope they will not suppress a story about what really goes on through the night in some downtown bars…
Rob Mills has a story in today’s SUN with the details of the incident. We’ll see how the License Commission handles this.
Lowell bar owner facing chargesBy Robert Mills, rmills@lowellsun.comArticle Last Updated: 07/27/2008 05:06:55 PM EDTLOWELL — The owner of one of downtown’s most popular bars is facing charges he was drinking in the bar early Thursday morning with two other men and a prostitute, and that he assaulted an officer who was investigating.
Thomas Economou, 52, of Tewksbury, owner of The Dubliner, at 197 Market St., admits he was in the bar drinking at about 5 a.m., but says police have blown the allegations out of proportion.
Police were called to the bar on Thursday about 5 a.m., for what a caller thought was a break-in. Once inside the bar, police say they found Economou drinking and serving two other men.
Officers said they also found Economou in the bathroom with a prostitute, police say, though the woman was not immediately charged. It was not clear if she will be summonsed to court at a later date.
Police also say Economou struck an officer with the bathroom door when the officer tried to enter, and that an undisclosed class B substance was found in the bar.
Economou says he was in the bar’s basement stocking coolers to prepare for the Lowell Folk Festival weekend, with all the lights turned off upstairs.He admits he was sharing a few beers with his helpers, but says there was no prostitute. The woman was just a friend who had just arrived. He says there were no drugs, and that that drug accusation stems from a rolled-up dollar bill in one man’s pocket.
Economou says he did push back against the bathroom door as the officer tried to enter, but only because he did not know who was trying to get in, and was alarmed because no one should have been inside with him at that hour when all the doors were locked.
“They’re blowing it completely out of proportion,” Economou said of police.
Economou was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (door), sexual conduct for a fee, unlawful delivery of alcohol, delivery of alcohol to an intoxicated person, hindering an investigation, and delivery of a class B substance, police said.
He was arraigned Thursday in Lowell District Court and released.
Capt. Jonathan Webb said police plan to take the allegations before the city license commission. Webb could not comment on possible sanctions.