UPDATED: The Casa Rica Restaurant and Sports Bar on East Main Street has reopened after being shut down by the Riverhead Fire Marshal and Riverhead Town Police this afternoon, following the arrest of its owner last night.
The shut-down was ordered after an inspection disclosed that the premises still lacked a functioning fire alarm, Fire Marshal David Andruskiewicz said.
The owner of the bar, Carlos Moreno-Bonilla, 31, of Centereach, was arrested last night and charged with multiple town fire code violations, having adulterated liquor on the premises in violation of the state alcoholic beverage control law, and employing an unlicensed security guard. The security guard, Frederick Samuels, 26, of East Meadow, was charged with working as a security guard without a license, in violation of the state general business law, police said.
Moreno-Bonilla was also arrested June 4 for having two unlicensed security guards employed on the premises, according to police.
Both the June arrests and the arrests last night were the result of State Liquor Authority investigations, police said.
Andruskiewicz said he expected Casa Rica to reopen again as soon as the fire alarm was fixed. The other fire code violations for which Moreno-Bonilla was cited last night were otherwise taken care of, Andruskiewicz said.
The bar, which caters to Latino men, has been the scene of a number of criminal incidents, including a machete attack last summer.
Last July, a Flanders man was seriously injured by a machete in a brawl that spilled out onto the deck behind the bar, according to police. A Riverhead man, Jose Escalante-Pinto, 38, was charged with first-degree assault in that incident. In Septermber, police arrested a Casa Rica bartender, Esperanza Canales, 25, of Medford, and charged her with serving liquor to underage patrons at the bar. Two Southold men, Jose Pirir-Morroquin, 20, and Cerbacio Dela-Cruz, 22, were both charged with open alcohol consumption behind the bar. In May, Roberto Ortigoza, 32, of Southampton was arrested at the bar and charged with second-degree assault, police said.
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