BOSTON (WHDH) - The Boston Licensing Board on Thursday voted to suspend the Sons of Boston’s liquor license indefinitely weeks after the fatal stabbing of a Marine on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
The board voted unanimously to suspend the Union Street bar’s license, citing a “systematic failure” in keeping patrons and the public safe.
“Someone died directly at the hands of their staff based on their negligent hiring practices, their utter lack of proper training in their recent prior reports of violent staff,” board chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said. “It should have been foreseeable that an event like this could have happened.”
Alvaro Larrama, who worked as a bouncer at the bar, fatally stabbed former Marine Daniel Martinez on March 19, authorities said.
The two men exchanged words when Martinez tried to get into the bar, with Larrama stabbing him to death shortly afterward, according to investigators and Jason Kuczynski, who runs the bar.
“They were denied entry and definitely got into a verbal dispute,” Kuczynski told the board during a review on Tuesday. “Just from the body language, it seems like they were having a pretty intense argument.”
Kuczynski admitted to the board that he did not do a background check on Larrama because he was a one-day hire to assist with the busy holiday weekend.
“I do not believe they are operating a law-abiding business,” Joyce added. “I believe it’s unsafe for them to continue to operate.”
The board pulled the bar’s entertainment license in the days after Larrama was charged with murder. He is currently being held without bail.
An attorney representing the Martinez family announced plans to file a civil lawsuit against the bar.
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