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DUI campaign focuses on bars

Arrested drivers name some establishments more than others as their last stop. County deputies are using this data.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published January 8, 2006

TAMPA - The Green Iguana Bar & Grill near the Veterans Expressway has three bars and room for a few hundred patrons. Open less than a year, its tropical island decor evokes spring break.

Every weeknight from 5 to 7, patrons can buy Captain Morgan, Jim Beam and Smirnoff vodka drinks for $2 each. Wednesday is "Dollar Drink Night."

Thirty-five times since April, people arrested by Hillsborough sheriff's deputies for driving under the influence have said the Green Iguana is where they last drank before getting behind the wheel.

The Green Iguana on Anderson Road is one of several Hillsborough bars and pubs where dozens of drivers busted for DUI reported having their last drink.

For two years, Hillsborough deputies making DUI arrests have been urged, though not required, to fill out a "responsible vendor" card that asks drivers where they last had alcohol.

The result is a database of more than 1,200 arrests, which the agency uses to help guide its DUI enforcement in the unincorporated areas where they patrol.

While the most common answers were "don't know," "private residence," or "private party," several bars were named more than 20 times each.

The Green Iguana was cited more often than any other bar, and 10 of the 35 people arrested had blood-alcohol levels two times higher than the legal limit for impairment. Next on the list was O'Brien's Irish Pub in Brandon: 33 DUI arrests since January 2004.

Keeping such close tabs on where intoxicated drivers get their last cocktail is part of an ongoing push to curb alcohol-related crashes and fatalities in unincorporated Hillsborough.

"We've been locking people up for years for DUI, so this is just trying to get at it from a different angle," said Sheriff David Gee. "This lets the vendors know, "Hey, we're watching."'

Sean Rice, part owner of O'Brien's Irish Pub, said he got a letter from the Sheriff's Office a few months ago warning that the high number of DUI incidents could affect the liquor license for his pub or result in civil litigation.

But Gee said he doesn't want to penalize or embarrass drinking establishments.

"We're trying to work with them," Gee said. "If we can stop it in the restaurant or bar, it's going to be better off for everyone."

Florida statutes don't require law enforcement agencies to track where intoxicated drivers drink. The Hillsborough Sheriff's Office appears to be alone among Tampa Bay agencies in doing so.

The Tampa Police Department doesn't keep such a database. The Pinellas Sheriff's Office and St. Petersburg and Clearwater police departments ask drivers where they drank when filling out DUI arrest and crash reports, but they do not compile the data or use it to tailor their enforcement strategies, agency officials said.

Hillsborough sheriff's Maj. Bill Davis, who oversees crime prevention and crime analysis, said the agency started keeping track of the information "strictly as a proactive measure."

"It gives us the advantage of knowing where the problem areas are in the county."

Still, Davis is quick to concede the data is only as good as the honesty of the driver providing it.

And some of the establishments that come up high on the list, like Whiskey Park North in Carrollwood and the country western club Dallas Bull east of Tampa, serve a larger volume of customers than a tiny neighborhood hole-in-the wall. Dallas Bull, for example, has room for about 700 patrons. Whiskey Park holds 750.

Moreover, until now the Sheriff's Office hasn't required deputies to take down the information when making a DUI arrest. So the database is partly a reflection of "how diligent" deputies in the agency's four patrol districts are about querying drivers and recording their answers, Davis said.

Starting this year, though, every deputy who makes a DUI arrest will be required to fill out the responsible vendor form, Davis said. And deputies investigating all alcohol-related crashes will fill out the vendor cards.

Sheriff's officials will monitor the database each month and will visit frequently named vendors. Gee said he wants to start a program to train bar staffs on state law and the signs of intoxication.

Rice, of O'Brien's Irish Pub, said he welcomes the help. O'Brien's 3 a.m. closing time is unique among Brandon bars, and it means many patrons end their night there after drinking elsewhere, he said.

Rice said he tried to set up a taxi service for customers, but taxi companies are not eager to drive into the suburbs when they can get high-volume business at the airport or S Howard Avenue.

Often, his own employees drive customers home.

"I can't afford to close my doors at 12 o'clock at night, because I work for a wage like everyone else," said Rice, 40. "But I don't give my drink away with 2-for-1 specials just to get customers in the door."

Whiskey Park North offers a "Hospitality Happy Hour" in which hospitality industry employees can buy domestic and imported bottled beer for $2. Every Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., there's "Super Happy Hour" - customers can drink all they want for $10. Ladies' night is Thursday, half off for wines and specialty drinks. Dallas Bull is open until 3 a.m., and ladies drink free on Thursdays until 1 a.m. Friday, there are $1.75 beer specials.

Liquor Lloyd's Beach House, which was named 26 times by arrested drivers, has closed.

The Times called the establishments that made the sheriff's top-10 list, but some, including the Green Iguana and Dallas Bull, did not return messages. Others declined to comment.

Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, which was named 19 times, said it has a program promoting "responsible drinking." Among the provisions: free cab rides home for intoxicated patrons.

Staff and security personnel monitor guests who have had too much to drink, in effect "cutting them off," Bitner said.

"Some of the places are really making an effort, and they train their employees to spot people who shouldn't be drinking," said sheriff's Maj. Paul Davis, brother to Maj. Bill Davis.

But Sgt. Ronald Harrison said bars face a "double-edged sword" with patrons and driving.

"If you're in the business of selling alcohol, should you be held totally responsible for the adults you serve?" he asked. "I place most of the responsibility with the drinker."

In October, a Dallas Bull patron almost crashed into a deputy, records show.

In January 2005, a 25-year-old patron left Whiskey Park North about 3 a.m. after running up a $30 bar tab, crashed into a Ford pickup truck and fled. In October, deputies pulled over two Whiskey Park North patrons who weren't old enough to legally drink.

The effort to curb alcohol-related crashes took root a few years ago, when sheriff's officials learned that Hillsborough led the state in the number of DUI-related traffic fatalities. Hillsborough is Florida's fourth-most populous county, but its numbers were higher than Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, which have larger populations.

So the Sheriff's Office secured a $1.7-million grant and created Operation 3D, a nine-deputy squad that does monthly checkpoints and DUI sweeps. Harrison leads the squad, which works with other law enforcement agencies including the Tampa police and Florida Highway Patrol.

Each of the Sheriff's Office's four patrol districts also has four deputies who specialize in DUI enforcement - giving the agency the largest DUI enforcement squad in the state, Harrison said.

When Gee came into office last year, he vowed to continue the efforts. With $210,000 in grants and donations, the office bought a 37-foot RV to use during DUI enforcement operations. Dubbed the "Batmobile," it includes office space and equipment to test drivers' blood-alcohol levels.

Arrest figures illustrate the amped-up enforcement. In 2005, there were 7,134 DUI arrests in all of Hillsborough County - up 6 percent from the year before. Still, people drink and drive.

Between January and November 2004, sheriff's deputies investigated 52 fatal crashes in unincorporated Hillsborough - 23 of them alcohol-related. Between January and November 2005, they investigated 61 fatal crashes. Nineteen were alcohol-related.

And on New Year's weekend, the statistics started coming in for 2006. Two fatal crashes, one alcohol-related.

Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 8, 2006, 00:44:19]