Frederick Tavern Owner Objects To $500 Fine

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A Frederick bar owner says the local liquor board is ignoring the fine line between selling and serving booze.

Pam Belles tells The Frederick News-Post she'll fight a $500 fine it imposed Monday on her downtown tavern, The Cellar Door.

The case involves an intoxicated man who was allowed to buy drinks for his friends after he was cut off. Witnesses testified he bought a round of shots and handed them out.

The liquor board found that the bar had violated a ban on selling alcohol to an apparently intoxicated person.

Belles says the board's interpretation of the law was overly strict.

A neighboring tavern wasn't penalized for serving booze to the same group that night. The board wasn't convinced that the intoxicated man bought the drinks.

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