Alcohol licenses are regulated separately by the Boston Licensing Board.
Police acted the same day the bureau indefinitely suspended the entertainment license after regulators found the company had failed to provide safety and operational plans as promised on March 25, 2021, when the license was issued, wrote the office in a notice to the Bar Association. Until the company files board approval, the entertainment license will be suspended indefinitely.
“Licensees have an obligation to conduct their operations in a manner that does not interfere with public safety and order, and to operate in a manner that protects patrons and members of the public,” the bureau wrote. The bar association must provide information on hiring, de-escalation training and other issues, the office said.
The license seizure comes after Daniel Martinez, 23, who served four years in the Marines, was allegedly stabbed to death around 7pm last Saturday by a Sons of Boston bouncer identified as Alvaro O. Larrama, 38, of East Boston.
Larrama was charged with murder in Boston City Court on Monday and was being held without bail.
According to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’s office, Martinez and his friends were denied entry, exchanged words with the bouncers and then walked away down Union Street. A second confrontation took place in which Martinez raised his arm defensively, threw an aluminum beer can at Larrama and then was stabbed once in the chest by the bouncer, authorities claimed.
Carolyn Conway, the Boston attorney for the Sons of Boston owners, declined to discuss the seizure of the license and the connection between the nightspot and the Navy Thursday killing.
“We’re still investigating,” Conway said, declining to comment further.
The fatal stabbing wasn’t the first time an employee attacked a customer at the nightspot. According to Licensing Board documents, it was the third incident involving a bouncer in a year.
The first breach took place around 9:50 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2021, when a man told a police officer the bouncer threatened to attack him, according to a report filed with the board.
“You should do something with this guy, he’s very angry,” the unidentified man told police.
In front of the officer, the bouncer rushed towards the man and verbally addressed him, the police wrote. The bouncer’s name was not included in the report.
“[Expletive] the police, they can not do [expletive]i work i will [expletive] up,” said the bouncer, police wrote. The bouncer is also said to have insulted the police officer.
When another bouncer tried to intervene, the first bouncer pushed his colleague against a wall.
“[Expletive] you, I do not give you [expletive]’ the bouncer told the officer when asked his name, police wrote.
Police cited the bar for assault and assault, employee on employee; threats, employees on clients/public; Threats, police officer, according to board records.
In a December 14 Licensing Board hearing, Sons of Boston bar manager Jason Kuczynski said the bouncer was fired after the incident.
“It’s totally [inexcusable]’ Kuczynski told Zoom in the hearing. “I’m not sure what the employee was thinking or why he was lashing out, but he was subsequently fired. And that’s definitely not how our interactions with the police should be.”
He estimated the bouncer had worked at the bar for about two years, the manager said. Kuczynski also said he reviewed video footage but the incident was out of camera view.
“I don’t know if this guy was having a bad day or what. … He blew out of control for no reason and we don’t tolerate that,” Kuczynski said.
He also said he had a private conversation in the kitchen with the officer and the former bouncer, both of whom had been “very heated”.
The board dismissed the breach after being told the bouncer had been fired, records show.
The other incident happened on Jan. 1, when a Connecticut man said he was attacked by two bouncers around 1:30 a.m., according to board records.
According to the police report, the man claimed that the bouncers put him in a chokehold, dragged him out of the bar and assaulted him. After the incident, the man reported that he “suffered soreness and bleeding from the mouth,” police wrote.
The board took no action following this incident and it was filed without a hearing, according to board filings.
Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this article incorrectly stated which agency regulates entertainment licenses. The Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing issues entertainment licenses in the city.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Matt Yan can be reached at matt.yan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @matt_yan12.
