TEMPE, AZ — Tempe Tavern has closed after 15 years in business, shutting its doors the same day liquor control investigators were called in to examine the bar's connection with a deadly crash.
A lawyer for the bar said the closure was decided earlier this month, and prior to a deadly crash last week, rather than blaming "dramatically reduced business" due to what he called "harassment" by regulators and police.
Last week, the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested Zachary Penrod, 21, accusing him of killing a grandmother in a car wreck as her family changed a tire on the side of U.S. 60 in Mesa.
The Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (DLLC) was called in to assist in the investigation as DPS executed a search warrant at Tempe Tavern on Sept. 16. DLLC determined Penrod had been drinking at the bar shortly before the crash.
This is not the first deadly crash tied to Tempe Tavern. ABC15 previously reported the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run last September was also drinking there before the crash.
State regulators raided the bar twice last year, targeting underage drinking, and found that 80% of all underage drinking arrests in Tempe over a two-year span happened at Tempe Tavern.
In March, state investigators recommended permanently revoking Tempe Tavern's liquor license, citing 11 categories of violations and calling the bar a "danger to the community."
The bar's lawyers have not responded to a question asking whether they will continue their litigation against the City of Tempe, which also lists Tempe Police Chief Ken McCoy and DLLC agents as defendants, among others, claiming they have been targeted by police and regulators.
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