Bar Loses License for Liquor Law Violations

“El Borrego” means “the young lamb” or “the simpleton” in Spanish. But according to police, there was nothing innocent about El Borrego in Pacoima, which on Monday became the first San Fernando Valley bar to have its license permanently revoked under a state program targeting problem liquor outlets.

“They were serving minors, they were not keeping up the business, they were serving drunks and they employed ‘B girls’ ” to increase the number of drinks sold to male patrons, said Sgt. Kris Pitcher of the Los Angeles Police Department’s administrative vice division. The owner, Ines Ruiz, could not be reached Monday for comment.

Operation ABC Los Angeles began in January as a one-year, $100,000 pilot project targeting businesses that serve alcohol to minors and inebriated patrons and permit prostitution, drug trafficking or other criminal activities. The funding, requested by Los Angeles City Council members Richard Alarcon, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters, pays for a full-time police officer to patrol so-called problem liquor outlets in the LAPD’s Foothill and 77th divisions.

“We’re trying to send a message . . . about ways we can improve the quality of life in Los Angeles,” Alarcon said. “Here we’ve caught another bar that refuses to heed our warnings” about operating responsibly, he added.

Pitcher said he has zeroed in on about five establishments in the northeast Valley--and 21 total--because of repeated liquor law violations, calls for LAPD assistance or complaints from the community. Most businesses quickly straighten up, Pitcher said. The alternatives: revocation of the owner’s liquor license or a civil abatement lawsuit, which officials resorted to in May against a Pacoima nightclub.

So far, the LAPD has made 465 arrests for crimes perpetrated at problem liquor outlets and the state has assessed nearly $1.4 million in penalties for tax violations.