2 Arrested in Cocaine Sales at Hermosa Pub

The bartender at a popular Hermosa Beach pub and a sometime maintenance man at the establishment were arrested last week by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department for allegedly selling cocaine in the bar to undercover agents, the department confirmed Friday.

The arrest Wednesday of Mark Alan Winsborough, 36, of El Segundo and Rogelio (Jesus) Gutierrez Reyes, 46, of Hermosa Beach capped a six-month investigation by the ABC and local authorities of alleged drug dealing at Besties bar, ABC Investigator Phil Henry said.

Henry said the department has outstanding arrest warrants for at least four other suspects in the case, and plans to file an administrative action against the bar owner, Robert McAlinden.

“It was so blatant that everybody knew what was going on,” Henry said. “And it couldn’t have gone on without the owner’s acquiescence.”

McAlinden, however, denied he knew anything about the allegations.

“I just can’t believe it’s happened,” he said. “This is a very well-liked establishment. This is shocking news. Mark is a trusted employee. He’s worked for me for 10 years. If I’d had any inclination he was doing anything like that, his feet wouldn’t have touched the floor. This is a million-dollar business that I built myself. I’d never allow anything to jeopardize it.”

Henry said the investigation was launched by the ABC’s 2-year-old Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team after it was tipped to the suspected drug dealing by local authorities and by an anonymous letter in the mail.

“Over the six months (of the investigation),” he said, “there were 12 incidents of hand-to-hand purchases of cocaine,” each involving less than an eighth of an ounce of powder.