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The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration has ordered Cardinal’s Nest owner Darrell Green, a former D.C. police officer, to appear before the board today to answer multiple charges: that he allowed underage drinking; allowed beverages to be sold that were not for consumption inside of the establishment; permitted the sale of back drinks (translation: double-fisting); played music too loud; and violated multiple specifications of a voluntary agreement he entered with Brookland residents. He was also charged with not making that agreement available for inspection.
Green is scheduled to appear before the board today at 1 p.m. At last check, he was being represented by Andrew J. Kline, who Loose Lips reported in December violated nearly a dozen rules of professional conduct, including committing criminal forgery and engaging in behavior “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation,” according to a report [PDF] issued by the D.C. Court of Appeals’ Board of Professional Responsibility.
Read the full report and other details after the jump.
City Paper covered the bar last May and their Go-Go music last June after shootings outside the club. There have been several incidents since, including an assault in November. (Find coverage of these incidents over at the Tower, Catholic U.’s student newspaper, where I also work.)
ABRA investigators visited Cardinal’s Nest on Aug. 28 in response to a complaint by an associate dean of students at CUA. That is where they allegedly observed the sale of alcoholic beverages to underage students. The complaint says the investigators “observed several patrons with Xs on their hands drinking from cups of beer in their hands and in some cases holding two cups of beer.” They also saw a bartender serve a patron with Xs on his hands.
During an incident in the spring, an investigator saw a male walking away from Cardinal’s Nest carrying two white cups with Budweiser/Bud Light advertisements.
The male told the investigator that he had just come from Cardinal’s Nest and had been there all night. Asked what he was drinking, the patron told the investigator it was “happy juice.”
Darrell Green, the owner of the Cardinal’s Nest, has quite a history. The former cop worked in the 4th District for 10 years until he resigned in 2002 under circumstances the police department will not disclose, according to a City Paper article. The article, written after a man was shot and killed outside the bar says he was not the first victim of violence outside one of Green’s bars. “In May 2004, Rumba Café owner Boris Canjura was found unconscious outside of Adams Mill Bar & Grill, his skull fractured, his ribs broken, and his lung punctured.”
Green has also been accused of renting out substandard properties and turned himself in after being accused of looting painting, antiques, china, and Oriental rugs from a self-storage unit in Vienna, VA. The charges were later dropped.
He was opposed to the ban on smoking as owner of Adams Mill Bar & Grill, according to a Washington Post article in early Jan. 2007. He told the Washington Times that his business fell off as a result of the ban and had to eliminate lunch service.
He also was not a fan of Flexcars and Zipcars taking up public parking spaces outside of his bar in Adams Morgan.
Catholic University administrators have long complained about the bar, which has been open since the fall of 2006. In the spring, Craig Parker offered legal help and University resources to University residents who wanted to get the bar’s liquor license pulled.
The original voluntary agreement between Cardinal’s Nest and Brookland neighbors was signed in Dec. 2006, and amended in April, 2008.
Read the D.C. ABRA Order to Cardinal’s Nest for the full details (dates were before rescheduling and delays).
Live coverage starts at 1 p.m.
