Santa Ana’s Culichitown liquor license suspended after serving drinks to teen involved in fatal accident – Orange County Register

A Santa Ana bar and restaurant had its liquor license suspended after it served drinks to an 18-year-old who was later involved in a crash in Lynwood that killed another teenager in 2021.

Investigators with the Alcoholic Beverages Control Division said a waiter at the Santa Ana location in Culichitown gave drinks to 18-year-old Jose Clemente on the night of November 12, 2021.

They said Clemente got behind the wheel of a car traveling eastbound on the 105 freeway later the next day early in the morning: At 5:50 a.m., Clemente’s car crashed near the Long Beach Boulevard exit. According to news reports from the time, two vehicles were involved.

At the time, there were six people in the car, including Clemente. One of the passengers, 18-year-old Osiris Servin, was killed. Everyone else inside was injured.

Los Angeles County court documents were not available showing whether Clemente was charged with driving under the influence in the accident. But ABC said its investigators were informed that the driver involved was under 21, triggering their investigation.

A department spokesman said Culichitown’s liquor license allows the restaurant to serve minors, but they are still “required to carefully check their IDs when guests order alcoholic beverages.”

The department said Clemente and the group of other teenagers all went to Culichitown that night, where they were served drinks. The department did not say if the restaurant checked their IDs or if they were presented with fake IDs. Separately, a waiter gave alcoholic drinks to the group.

The ABC accused the restaurant of supplying alcoholic beverages to a minor causing grievous bodily harm or death, a misdemeanor. The department said the restaurant has settled and agreed to indefinitely suspend its liquor license.

The agreement requires Culichitown to suspend its license for at least 30 days, according to a statement from the ABC. After the 30 days, the restaurant must transfer the license to another owner within the next four months. Any further violations would result in their license being permanently revoked.

The restaurant has already run into trouble twice for serving alcohol, with suspensions for after-hours serving and breaches of license terms.

The restaurant had not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon. Culichitown operates five locations in Southern California.