Photo by Yonas Hassen
People who want a drink on H Street NE in November apparently won’t be able to get one at Sticky Rice. At least for two weeks.
As Barred In D.C. first reported, the Alcohol Beverage Control Board has punished the H Street eatery for ejecting two Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration on New Year’s Eve by suspending its liquor license for 15 days.
According to the order, this is what went down: Two ABRA investigators entered Sticky Rice at 2:15 a.m. in January 1. Owner Jason Martin then got into a disagreement with one of the investigators over his credentials.
Mr. Martin proceeded to accuse Investigator Jones of having fake identification. Mr. Martin then told the investigators that Investigator Apraku had “real” identification. He then told the investigators that if he would not let them see their identification documents, he would not allow them to view his licenses. Mr. Martin then began cursing and yelling, ordering the investigators to leave the establishment, and calling on security to eject the investigators
One investigator says Martin pushed him to leave and ordered security to escort them from the building. The investigators say Martin continued yelling.
Investigator Jones described Mr. Martin’s behavior during their encounter as “strange” and incoherent, while Investigator Apraku described Mr. Martin’s behavior as “bizarre.” Investigator Jones also described Mr. Martin’s eyes as appearing “funny” during their encounter.
Martin presented his own version of events to the ABC Board, but they were not convinced: “Mr. Martin’s actions and supposed fears appear unreasonable when the investigators did nothing more than ask to see his license and, as Mr. Martin claimed, he intentionally placed security near the bottom of the stairs in order to ensure that his security could observe the investigation.”
From November 13 to November 27, the sushi restaurant won’t be able to serve booze, unless they appeal the ruling. The final ten days of the suspension will be stayed, unless Sticky Rice commits any additional violations within a year.
The order was issued on October 16. A representative from Sticky Rice said this morning they would get comment to DCist as soon as possible.
Update: Sticky Rice has not appealed the ruling, according an ABRA public information officer: “ABRA, to date, has not received any submissions from the licensee regarding the ABC Board Order that was issued on October 16, 2013, to Sticky Rice.
Second update: Here’s a comment from Mark Thorp, owner of Little Miss Whiskey’s and Jimmy Valentine’s.
The testimony given by the ABRA investigators does not appear truthful. Jason Martin has over 7 years of intense, hands-on experience with 3 ABRA-licensed businesses, and a “routine compliance check” (in which the investigators simply verify that all relevant business licenses are up to date and that the business is operating accordingly) would not provoke this alleged behavior from him.
Mr. Martin states that one of the investigators did not have ABRA identification, and the other investigator produced an ID that did not belong to him (and which Mr. Martin states belonged to the ABRA supervisor that arrived after the incident). After being shown a “fake” ID, Mr Martin had the investigators evicted by security personnel, which action is completely reasonable and within the boundaries of the law.
The investigators testified that they had proper ID when Mr. Martin first asked for them. If this was true, why would Mr. Martin refuse to show his relevant business licenses? The licenses were clearly in order because there are no ABRA charges to the contrary, so Mr. Martin was not at risk. 8 months after the incident, why would Mr. Martin further jeopardize his business- much less waste considerable time and money on attorney fees- by fighting these charges? The penalty initially offered is always significantly less than the punishment faced by the business if it loses its fight against the charges.
I am a fellow business owner on H Street as well as a former employee of Jason Martin, and I have been witness many times to Mr. Martin’s careful, calm, and considered management of difficult and sometimes confrontational situations. I do not share any financial interests with him, nor do I stand to receive any personal gain by asserting my belief that Jason Martin acted properly and responsibly, and that the ABRA investigators are not telling the truth.
Sincerely,
Mark Thorp
Third update: Here, via Barred in D.C., is part of Jason Martin’s testimony.
I was alerted by staff that two ABRA investigators would like to speak with the manager on duty. I introduced myself as the owner of the restaurant. For some reason, perhaps they were nearing the end of the undoubtedly long night, the two men met me with very high energy acting aggressive and agitated. It was at this point that I asked the first gentleman, Mr. Apraku, for identification. Mr. Apraku showed me the black wallet which housed the badge, but no photo identification. I then asked for the second gentleman, Mr. Jones, for his identification. He quickly flashed his wallet housing a badge and photo ID of someone who was clearly not him. I attempted to obtain a closer look at the identification but was told that I need to remove my hands from the ID. I complied, but after seeing clearly false identification, I was left with high anxiety about the potential dangerous situation that I’d be dealing with, such as two random men using tactics to gain access to my back room or office.
I was also particularly concerned by the false identification that was shown to me. Because I knew that Sticky Rice was in compliance with and was paying for extended operating hours for New Year’s Eve. And I was not sure why a real ABRA investigator would not already have a record of this. Making sure that security was close, I escorted the two men to the second floor sushi bar where the licenses were displayed in a picture frame. Due to the fact that there was an entrance to the office located behind the sushi bar, I extended my arm and said, wait right here. After retrieving the frame with the ABRA license and putting it on the bar, the two men verified that I did have the extended license to stay open until 4:00 a.m.
I asked Mr. Jones for identification one more time. He complied, and when I held his photo ID for a comparison to who was standing in front of me it was clearly not him. I exclaimed that is not you, the photo is of someone else. Mr. Jones attempted to take back the false credentials, which I allowed him to do after I looked at the photo a third time and stated that’s a fake ID. They claimed that their credentials were real. But with one man showing me no valid Government photo ID and the second man showing me that of a third man, later to be identified as Mr. Stewart, I was still unsure of who they were. And I asked them to leave the building since I had fully complied with their request to view the license. The two gentlemen informed me that I was not allowed to ask them to leave, which further intimidated me and left me feeling extremely uncomfortable about who these two men were and what they wanted.
I responded, you have now seen my license that I’m allowed to stay open until 4:00 a.m. You have shown me a fake ID, please leave. They refused, resulting in me calling for security to remove them from the building, which is what security personnel did.
Approximately 45 minutes later, they returned with a third gentleman who informed me that he was their supervisor, Mr. Stewart. I asked to see his credentials and when he produced them for me I found out the photo ID was, in fact, Mr. Stewart, but was also the exact same photo ID that Mr. Jones had presented to me earlier. I asked why would he present me with someone else’s ID — this is to Mr. Stewart — Mr. Jones attempted to speak but Mr. Stewart stopped him and said please be quiet. Mr. Stewart then assured me that their credentials were real and that I was not allowed to interfere with an ABRA investigation, to which I tried to explain to Mr. Stewart that without proper identification I did not know who they were and that this was not right.
To further put this incident into perspective in how I was approaching it as a seasoned business owner, I’d like to point out that if a random patron gained access to my establishment and then presented a fake ID, particularly late in the night on a busy holiday, I would have asked them to leave immediately. Furthermore, if they would have refused, I would have not hesitated to have my security staff remove them from the building. I’m not trying to accuse an ABRA investigator of intentionally trying to deceive me, as it is possible that maybe Mr. Jones simply grabbed the wrong wallet and badge and was not aware of it until I pointed it out. But this does not make it more acceptable on the receiving end of it. In hindsight, I should have called 911 immediately, told them that someone claiming to be an ABRA investigator showed me false credentials, and asked MPD to come investigate. At the time, however, I felt that I was being proactive in handling the situation by showing the men what they wanted and reducing the possibility of a scary incident.
