Councilman present when city police make drug arrest during check of local club

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Friday, March 31, 2017, 11 p.m. — A Bardstown man was arrested early Friday, March 24, 2017, on drug-related charges when police were conducting a bar check at Broken Tee night club, 709 West Stephen Foster Ave.

JOHN CARLOS LEWIS

According to the citation, at 2:50 a.m. March 24, Bardstown Police officers observed several cars in the Broken Tee parking lot some 80 minutes after the establishment should have been closed according to state law. When officers knocked on the door, John C. Lewis, 29, of Bardstown, was observed by an officer getting up from his seat at a card table and placing something in a blue hoodie. When officers asked the occupants to open the door, an officer saw Lewis rise from his seat and move the hoodie behind the bar. When officers entered, they detected the odor of burnt marijuana. An officer located the blue hoodie behind the bar and discovered it contained two baggies — one with a green, leafy substance, and the second containing a white powder.

Lewis was arrested and charged with possession of controlled substance, first-degree (cocaine); possession of marijuana; and tampering with physical evidence.

Officers also issued citations to Jonathan Mattingly, one of the bar’s owners, for violations of local alcohol ordinances, which included: 114.40 — being open 80 minutes after the required time to have customers out of the business; 114.44 — permitting criminal conduct on the premises; 114.41 failure to comply with regulations (dark tinted windows at top and blinds closed at the bottom); and 114.43 — no notice posted regarding the sale of alcohol to minors.

None of the other individuals who were playing cards that morning — which included former mayor and Bardstown City Councilman Bill Sheckles — were cited.

-30-