
FARGO (KFGO) – The Liquor Control Board voted to approve a recommendation of a penalty against The Windbreak for a second violation of Fargo’s over-serving ordinance.
The board says the south Fargo bar violated the over-serving ordinance for a second time on October 21, 2023 when they served a man four mixed drinks and 10 shots in just over an hour and a half.
Police officers were called that night after the man was found passed out and unable to walk or stand on his own.
The Windbreak’s attorney Tim O’Keefe argued the bar did not violate the ordinance.
“As defined by the ordinance, a person’s obvious intoxication or impairment is reasonably discernable or evident to a person of ordinary experience. That’s the standard. Sgt. Golos has far more experience than a person of ordinary experience, and Sgt. Golos did not determine this individual was obviously intoxicated,” O’Keefe said.
City commissioner and board member Dave Piepkorn and Police Chief Dave Zibolski expressed concerns about the situation at the bar.
“That’s prodigious alcohol consumption,” Piepkorn said. “10 shots in an hour and a half. I’m not a medical doctor, but you could die from alcohol poisoning with that much alcohol in your system.”
Zibolski said his officers were called to The Windbreak 19 times last year, by far the most of any licensed establishment in the city.
“That’s more than one a month. I have a very strong concern that someone’s going to end up dead from this situation,” Zibolski said.
Because this is The Windbreak’s second offense, the bar faces a $1,000 fine and a one-day suspension.
The Liquor Control Board’s recommendation now goes to the City Commission.
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