lenihan

NARRAGANSETT — Town Councilman George F. Lenihan Jr. will not face a criminal obstruction charge for hindering a police investigation but he could face a show-cause hearing at which the council would decide whether his restaurant liquor license should be suspended or revoked.

Last Friday, in an after-hours check at Lenihan’s restaurant, Pancho O’Malleys, police officers saw Lenihan and two other people at the bar. It was 2:24 a.m. — 24 minutes after the town-imposed cutoff for clearing establishments where alcoholic beverages are sold.

Lenihan was slow to let the officers in and told them several times that he was alone in the restaurant, according to police reports. The officers later found a man and woman hiding in a basement storage room.

Police Chief Joseph T. Little Jr. said it was not the first time officers had warned Lenihan about letting people stay at the bar after 2 a.m.

On three other occasions since December, officers found people at the bar after the cutoff, Little said. One of those checks, on Feb. 21, was made at 3:18 a.m., according to police records.

Little said he learned of the incidents after the third and met with Lenihan, warning him that if it happened again the police would seek a show-cause hearing before the council.

He said such incidents are not typical and that since he became police chief last year, Lenihan is the only license holder who has needed repeated warnings. When asked if Lenihan received special treatment because he is a council member, Little said that he learned of the warnings after the third and then met with Lenihan, as he would do with any other license holder. Had he known, he would have contacted Lenihan after the first warning, he said.

Lenihan, 44, a three-term council member, said yesterday that he is sorry for the incident.

“I just completed some paperwork and time slipped away,” said Lenihan, 44. “It was just 20 minutes past, and I’m sorry the whole thing happened.”

He also said he did not know that the man, a disc jockey who was working that night, and the woman, a bartender and also his girlfriend, had gone to the basement room to hide. He declined to comment further.

During last Friday’s check at Pancho O’Malleys, on Point Judith Road, officers saw Lenihan and another man sitting at the bar with 16-ounce drink glasses in front of them, according to police reports. There was also a woman behind the bar.

When the officers shined lights inside, the woman ducked behind the bar and Lenihan and the other man moved away from the light.

An officer’s knocks at the front door went unanswered until a police dispatcher phoned the restaurant and told Lenihan the police were outside.

Lenihan let the officers in and then insisted repeatedly that he was alone, sticking to that story even when the officers told him they had seen the other people.

The officers found those people in a locked basement room, finding a way in after Lenihan insisted he could not find the key, according to one of the reports. They were lying on the floor behind a furnace.

Little said the show-cause hearing, if the council decides to hold one, will require Lenihan to “show cause” as to why the council should not suspend or revoke his liquor license.

He said the police will recommend a sanction but declined to name it, saying the paperwork had not yet made its way to Town Manager Jeffry Ceasrine and the council.

Little said the police determined they do not have grounds for a criminal obstruction charge. Lenihan “certainly wasn’t helpful,” the chief said, “but in the end the officers were able to conduct their investigation.”

Council President T. Brian Handrigan said the council will decide whether to hold a show-cause hearing once members have the police report and recommendation.

Asked if Town Solicitor Mark A. McSally will represent the town, Handrigan said yes, unless McSally decides to recuse himself because Lenihan is one of the people who votes on the solicitor’s appointment.

Handrigan said he had no other comment because he will be one of the people deciding the fate of Lenihan’s license if there is a hearing.

redgar@projo.com