The Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Board deadlocked Thursday on whether or not to renew the liquor license for Big Daddy’s strip club, after two board members cited ongoing problems with owner Dan Dumoulin’s clubs.
Board members Beth Harshman and Matt Grecu cited the “character” clause of Indiana’s liquor licensing rules in voting against the renewal.
Indiana State Excise Police Major Robin Poindexter and board member Kurt Reed voted in favor of the renewal, with Reed saying he was convinced Dumoulin has acted to remedy past violations, and Poindexter saying those speaking against the renewal hadn’t offered enough evidence.
The deadlock means the Big Daddy’s renewal will go before the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission. Poindexter said Thursday the case will likely be heard at the commission’s Feb. 1 meeting in Indianapolis.
A denial at the ATC meeting would be a huge blow to Dumoulin, who owns and operates three strip clubs in Kokomo, along with seven other businesses.
Dumoulin has had repeated run-ins with excise dating back to mid-2011, and is currently embroiled in a battle with the ATC over a request to obtain a liquor license for a new bar he’s hoping to open.
Dumoulin’s trouble started in June 2011, when state excise police began investigating a complaint of prostitution and drug use at Little Daddy’s strip club, 1527 S. Home Ave.
According to a notice of violation filed by the state in December 2011, officers said they saw a dancer smoke marijuana in the main room of the bar, had another dancer offer them sexual favors, saw one dancer disappear into a private room with a patron for 30 minutes, saw a man being served who was so intoxicated he’d urinated on himself and found used condoms in the bathroom and in the private room at Little Daddy’s. Dumoulin paid a $1,150 fine in February for that case.
In a separate investigation from October 2011, Dumoulin was cited for selling customers beer advertised as a premium brand, when in fact he was serving them Keystone Light, a budget brand. He paid $550 in fines to settle those allegations.
His most recent run-in with excise was in September, when the Grand Slam Pub (now renamed The Filling Station) was cited for allowing a minor to loiter and furnishing alcohol to a minor. That case is still pending.
Thursday, the local alcohol board considered another “tap switching” violation from October 2011, involving excise allegations that customers at Big Daddy’s ordering Miller Lite and Coors Lite were instead getting Budweiser or Bud Light.
Dumoulin was fined $500 for that violation.
At the Thursday hearing, Dumoulin blamed a disgruntled former employee for switching the taps. When one of the remonstrators present suggested that the allegations amounted to hearsay, since the former employee hadn’t been summoned or subpoenaed to address the allegations, Poindexter explained that hearsay was allowed at liquor board hearings.
Remonstrators have been trying for the past several years to get Dumoulin’s businesses shut down, sometimes claiming that his strip clubs degrade community standards, and sometimes citing Dumoulin’s excise violations. About a dozen remonstrators attended Thursday’s liquor board hearing.
Scott Smith can be reached at 765-454-8569 or at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com.
Local News
January 24, 2013
Board splits on Dumoulin renewal
Case now heads to hearing in Indianapolis.
- Local News
-
-
Court lets walk-out fines against House Democrats stand
House Democrats who had to pay more than $100,000 in fines after they walked out of the Indiana Statehouse won’t get the help they sought from the Indiana Supreme Court.
-
A stroll through the gardens
The large, brick house at 802 E. Sycamore St. was built in the 1850s by Howard County's first judge. It's an old house with a lot of history, and it's surrounded by a small forest of old trees. There's a 100-year-old magnolia, 40-year-old tulip pop
- Governor reveals ambitious goals INDIANAPOLIS - Following a directive from Gov. Mike Pence, state agency heads are re-organizing some of their top priorities to better reflect the first-year governor's "roadmap for Indiana" plan for improving the state's economy, infrastructure and
- Maconaquah set to hire armed officer BUNKER HILL -- The Maconaquah School District will hire an armed security officer next school year to patrol the district's four buildings. Maconaquah will be the first district in Miami County to hire an armed officer, also known as a school resourc
-
Not always a bad thing
In town, floods are a mess. All of the roadside litter gets swept up and channeled into flood areas, where it snags and looks disgusting. Flood waters, laden with raw sewage from combined sewer outfalls, gets into walls and flooring, creating a stenc
- Local teen explores wireless technology Eighteen-year-old Cade Meurer has spent years exploring ways to transmit electricity wirelessly - a fairly new concept that's now earning him national recognition. The recent Eastern High School graduate submitted his research and work to Google Scie
-
Shell sentenced for hitting baby
PERU -- A 47-year-old Amboy man was sentenced to 21 years in prison last week for neglecting and injuring a 9-month-old baby after he mistakenly hit the child with a metal pipe in 2010. The boy suffered multiple skull fractures that has left the now
- New law changes the dispatch debate The ongoing debate between Kokomo and Howard County officials regarding how to fund the combined dispatch center has taken an unexpected turn in support of the city's stance. As promised, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight and city attorney Lawrence McCorma
- Harold E. Ulshafer Harold E. Ulshafer, 89, Peru, died at 9:23 p.m. Friday, June 14, 2013, at his residence. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home, 105 W. 3rd St., Peru, with chaplains Dolly Bowen and Terri White officiating. Burial wil
-
Question Time: Summer rewind
“If you could relive one summer from your past over again, which one would it be and why?”
- More Local News Headlines
-
Court lets walk-out fines against House Democrats stand
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Boeing, Airbus Battle for Sales Supremacy
NYC 911 Call Lasts for 8 Hours
Obama: US Has Helped Syrian Rebels
Afghan Forces Take Afghanistan Security Lead
Raw: 100K Protesters Flood Brazilian Streets
California Cops Cruise on Stand-up Paddle Patrol
Transgender Candidate Running in NYC
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
Man Who Disrupted Flight Ranted About CIA
Feds: 7-Eleven Stores Exploited Immigrants
Fla. Teen Catches Ride With Whale Shark
Iran's Rowhani Urges 'Path of Moderation'
Investigators Probe Origin of Colo. Wildfire
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Family Tweets Say Kim Kardashian Gives Birth
