An Etobicoke bar has been accused of buying and selling stolen alcohol
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario announced that the bar’s liquor sales licence would be revoked
It’s not a good day to be Southside Johnny.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario announced yesterday that it had issued a Notice of Proposal to revoke the liquor sales licence of Southside Johnny’s Bar and Grill, on Etobicoke‘s Lake Shore Boulevard West, after an investigation found “that the licensee and a manager were repeatedly and knowingly involved in the purchase of stolen liquor for use at their bar, as well as for personal use,” according to an AGCO media release.
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The alcohol had been stolen from a nearby LCBO location, said the release. It added that stolen products were kept inside Southside Johnny’s, and someone would allegedly pour the contents of large bottles into smaller bottles so they could be used with the bar’s dispensing system.
Last week, Global News reported that Halton Regional Police had charged three people allegedly involved in an alcohol trafficking operation worth $1.3 million. Police said the accused allegedly stole large quantities of alcohol from LCBO locations throughout the GTA.
Yesterday’s media release did not say whether Southside Johnny’s was connected to those arrests, but a joint investigation between police and the LCBO last summer found that the trafficked merchandise was sold to 10 separate theft groups.
In an email to the Toronto Star, a Southside Johnny’s representative said, “We are appealing it vigorously and therefore no comment.” The bar has 15 days from the date of the notice to appeal.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
