Rootie's turns in liquor license

A bar near campus won't be serving beer with its munchies anymore.

Confronted with allegations of under-aged drinking, witness tampering and a host of community disturbances, the owners of Rootie Kazootie's (Rootie's) voluntarily turned over their liquor license to the city of Baltimore.

The bar's owners, Vincent A. Arosema and his son Vincent A. Arosema, Jr., faced a hearing before the city liquor board, three separate charges of under aged drinking, as well as a private suit by a Loyola College student accusing them of intimidation and trespassing.

Arosema's attorney, Ronald Schwartz, called the allegations of witness tampering "false and deflamatory," referring to a story published last week in The Baltimore Sun.

The student's uncle and lawyer, William Balaban, told The Sun that people from the bar visited his nephew Christopher in his college dormitory, trying to convince him not to testify against the bar on the charges of under aged drinking.

"It was witness tampering at its worst," he told The Sun.

"Ultimately, what I think happened was that as a result of the pressure they were under and the close public scrutiny caused them to do something pretty stupid," said Arthur Buist, the attorney representing community members who live near the bar.

Area residents began taking serious action against the bar, located at 2701 N. Charles St., about a year ago, Buist said. The problems, however, date back almost three years.

Fights spilling out of the bar, and disturbance of the peace were the residents' main complaints. After trying to negotiate an agreement with the owners, residents decided to go to the city liquor board to protest the bar's license.

One of those fights was caught on video, Buist said, and was presented to the board at its annual license renewal hearing last April. The protest was successful, and the owners of Rootie's were charged a fine and closed for several weekends in May and early June.

The disturbances died down while the bar was closed, but sprang up again once it resumed a full schedule. Buist went back to the board to protest Rootie's license in the fall, with allegations that the owners were not meeting the food sales quota required by their restaurant license.

"We had good reason to believe they were surviving more on alcohol sales than on food sales," Buist said.

The board then required that Arosema hand over a full accounting of the bar's food sales. Buist said the sales statement Arosema turned over was questionable -- it was accompanied by a letter from the CPA stating that he had been given the numbers by the owners and that he had not actually been involved in the accounting process.

Baltimore City Police got involved in the action against Rootie's last fall, after they arrested 15-20 minors who were being served at the bar.

"The charges against Rootie Kazootie's were based on police reports received by this agency," said Jane M. Schroeder, a deputy on the city liquor board. "[They] turned in the license rather than face a hearing at which their license may have been revoked."

Schroeder also said the owners will have a hard time getting their license back: "They cannot turn around and come back to renew their license without facing the outstanding charges and possible revocation. Any application for a new license at the Rootie Kazootie's location would be advertised and subject to a public hearing."

Arosema could not be reached for comment, but a recording on the bar's voicemail stated that Rootie's would be "open after 9 p.m."

While Schwartz, Arosema's attorney, could not comment on what the future of Rootie's would be, he said that the owners would likely continue operating as a restaurant.

Buist said the bar's actions this week confirm his and the community's suspicions that, "They don't even seem to be trying to sell food."

Though accusations of serving minors have plagued bars around Hopkins before, Rootie's problems aren't making other pub owners apprehensive.

"No, it doesn't affect us," said Charles Village Pub owner Edward Wilgis Ford. "We've always carded [and] we don't target under aged drinkers like they did."