BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)– Tuesday afternoon lawyers and law enforcement paid a visit at the popular Tigerland bar Reggie’s and suspended its alcohol license. The bar is under fire for serving alcohol to those underage.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office says LSU sophomore Madison Brooks, 19, left this bar, was raped and then left to wander a local neighborhood with a blood alcohol limit that was four times the legal limit.
Four men were charged in relation to the sex crime — two with third-degree rape and two with principal to third-degree rape. Three of the men charged also were younger than 21. One is 17.
“This is disappointing,” said Geno McLaughlin, Baton Rouge Alcoholic Beverage Control board member. “I think, collectively, we’ve got to ask ourselves, how can we do better?
Deputies say after she was dropped off in this area she was hit by a car and killed. Now, Reggie’s alcohol license has been taken away. In 2017, the bar had its license suspended after an undercover sting found several underaged people at the bar. More than three dozen people were arrested.
“Problems of the past should not be continuing into the future,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin says the state is looking into what happened, and he is not sure if the bar will be closed for good.
“You’ve got to look at the facts of the case in this particular situation. How did these individuals come to get drinks in our hand? Is was there some sort of potential fraud on their part where they presenting fake IDs,” he said.
Meanwhile, the attorney for two of the suspects in this case says this is a tragedy, but the bars that are selling to underage drinkers need to be held accountable.
“It needs to be about looking at the culture, at the tagline, you know, at those bars there that notoriously for years have allowed underage individuals there to drink,” said Ron Haley, attorney.
The Louisiana of Alcohol and Tobacco Control tells us an emergency hearing will be held next month to determine whether Reggie’s will face any penalties in this case.
East Baton Rouge councilwoman has asked the ABC board for a full report on efforts and enforcement action related to preventing underage drinking.
Kris Perret, Reggie’s attorney, provided the following statement:
“The owner of Reggie’s has fully cooperated with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police and the East Baton Rouge ABC office since their first requests for assistance in their ongoing investigations and will continue to do so.”