Patrons verbally ‘abuse’ inspector at Lexington coffee shop defying COVID rules
Kentucky Alcohol Beverage Control on Wednesday issued an emergency license suspension for a Lexington coffee shop that defied orders to close after violating COVID restrictions.
New details from the order show that state considers the shop a danger to public health.
Despite being ordered to close on Tuesday, Brewed at 124 Malabu opened its doors to dozens of customers on Wednesday morning.
At times, the line stretched out the door, with at least one customer waiting an hour for coffee.
Brewed was ordered to close by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department after owner Andrew Cooperrider said he would not stop serving indoors.
Cooperrider, who is an official in the Libertarian Party of Kentucky according to his Facebook page, refused to comply with an emergency order issued last week by Gov. Andy Beshear to close restaurant dining rooms and bars.
According to the ABC, the emergency suspension order was issued Wednesday because “the licensee’s continued operation and alcoholic beverage sales at the licensed premises constitutes an immediate danger to the public health, safety, or welfare.”
Also the state found that the coffee shop violated Kentucky statute “by permitting the premises to become disorderly,” which included threatening behavior.
In addition to violating the COVID restrictions, “Mr. Cooperrider followed the LFCHD inspector to the inspector’s vehicle with approximately twenty of the Licensee’s patrons verbally abusing the inspectors,” the order said.
At least four maskless patrons also confronted the inspector inside the coffee shop.
The ABC found that the actions “represented elevated risk of disease transmission and are a danger to the public health in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic.”
Cooperrider was ordered to either keep the alcohol inventory in a separate locked department or “close the place of business.”
It is unclear if he intends comply.
Earlier Wednesday, customers, including some not wearing masks, crowded into the coffee shop.
By Wednesday afternoon, the shop posted on its Facebook page that it had run out of food.
Christie Coleman, a truck driver who lives in Lexington, said she specifically came to Brewed “because they’re fighting” the governor’s orders.
“There’s no reason to shut everything down,” she said.
Coleman said she has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has traveled through much of the eastern region of the United States, visiting restaurants everywhere she’s gone.
Jenny Patten said she was visiting Brewed from Madison County after hearing that the business was defying Beshear’s order.
“It’s not fair that he’s shutting down small businesses while the big large businesses are thriving,” said Patten, who also opposes masks.
Beshear said the indoor dining ban, imposed on the advice of President Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force, was necessary to halt the spread of coronavirus, which is surging in Kentucky due to widespread community transmission with almost 4,000 cases reported some days last week.
Lexington health officials said there were 247 new cases of COVID in the city and one new death on Wednesday.
Cooperrider said on Tuesday that he did not plan to stop serving — despite the dire numbers — because he is afraid he will lose his business.
His shop, which opened in June, has a large garage door, and Cooperrider argued that having it open a foot should allow him to qualify as a heated patio.
Restaurants are allowed to continue serving customers outdoors, including in tents, as long as 50 percent of the walls are open. Carry out and delivery also were unaffected by Beshear’s order, which went into effect on Nov. 20 and is scheduled to last for three weeks.
Before the emergency order, restaurants and bars had been allowed to serve indoors with up to 50 percent capacity as long as other measures to prevent the viral spread were followed, including keeping parties six feet apart.
Beshear said Tuesday that the vast majority of restaurants and bars across Kentucky are complying with the emergency order. But at least a handful of other restaurants around the state have announced intentions to defy the order.
He said that those that do not comply could lose alcohol licenses. They also could face fines up to $100 from the health department.
The notification from ABC came Wednesday afternoon when Brewed was told it could no longer serve beer.
Cooperrider seemed to have anticipated the reaction, posting on Facebook, “Andy says no more beer. ABC pulled the license. This was expected. We didn’t even order beer this week.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
