Charlotte Bartender Charged Following Drunk Driving Crash

CHARLOTTE, NC — A Charlotte-area bartender has been criminally charged for selling alcohol to an intoxicated person after a woman with a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit suffered serious injures in a crash, North Carolina Department of Public Safety's Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) Division said Thursday.

“Every retailer who sells alcohol has the ability and responsibility to refuse the sale to an impaired person,” said Omar Qureshi, ALE Special Agent in Charge of the Harrisburg district. “State law protects employees for the refusal and it could save a life.”

Beantown Tavern server Chelsea Marie Mullis, 32, of Charlotte was charged following the Feb. 22 incident that investigators said led to the vehicle crash on Crowell Dairy Road near Old Dutch Road.

The intoxicated female driver was later charged with DWI.

"ALE special agents began to re-trace the suspect driver’s actions that night to find where she became intoxicated," ALE said. "Through the course of the investigation, special agents determined the driver consumed alcohol and was intoxicated at Beantown Tavern, located at 130 Matthews Station Street in Matthews, just prior to the crash."

Investigators said the woman's blood alcohol content was .2, which is nearly three times the legally allowed limit.

ALE also said Beantown Tavern was in violation of rules, such as, employees performing services after consuming alcohol, intoxication by permittee and allowing intoxicated patrons to consume alcohol on the premises. A report documenting the violations was submitted to the ABC Commission, and could result in a fine, as well as a suspension or revocation of the business' ABC permits, ALE said.

Mullis is due to appear in Mecklenburg County District Court in May, ALE said.

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