Bartender says serving minor a beer was ‘honest mistake’
Kim Winkler was the bartender on duty during the recent police minor alcohol sting. Photo courtesy of Pine Street Saloon.
Video shows minor decoy being carded – bartender says poor eyesight to blame for reading 1997 as 1991
Kim Winkler was the bartender on duty March 28 when the Paso Robles Police Department conducted a sting operation to put local bars and stores to the test to see if they would sell alcohol to a minor. Pine Street Saloon was the only location out of the 13 businesses involved that the police determined did sell alcohol to a minor.
Paso Robles Daily News readers and locals expressed their shock at the result, sharing their personal experiences of always being carded at the saloon.
Winkler said that, during the sting operation, she did check the minor’s I.D., taking it from him and placing it under the light of the bar, as shown in the video below, and saw that the I.D. appeared to be issued in 1991, before serving the minor a beer. Her eyesight ended up being the culprit, as it turned out that the I.D. actually was issued in 1997, making the decoy 18 rather than 24.
“It was an honest mistake,” said Winkler, who came forward to explain the situation because she was worried that the result would tarnish the reputation of the bar, a reputation for always carding. Owner Ron French “is like a father to me,” she said. “The bar has been like a family,” she said with tears forming in her eyes. “I’m a non-drinking bartender, and I card everyone. I feel so bad, it was an honest mistake…I didn’t want to hurt our reputation.”
French said that he immediately sent Winkler to the eye doctor to get a prescription. Eye doctors did determine that Winkler’s eyesight was poor and suggested that she begin wearing contacts or glasses. French said that he now will make sure that all of his employees undergo eye checks.
Both the bar and Winkler will be facing possible fines, as well as a probationary period— or worse. French said that the situation is now in the hands of Alcoholic Beverage Control or ABC, but that he is “hoping for the best.” When asked if the citation being the effect of an honest mistake on the part of the bartender would effect the ABC’s judgment, French said, “I don’t know, maybe, we’ll see.”
Sounds like these guys have too much time on their hands. If an under age person has the balls to walk into a bar and order a drink, it isn't for their first drink, so what are you really stopping? Wasting tax dollars to see how much attention can be paid to 1 or 2 numbers on a tiny card. Meanwhile, some kid across town is getting beat up by his drunk father, which is way less illegal, apparently.
This is crazy! I know Kim she is a yoga student of mine and I frequently sing karaoke at Pine for fun and she cards religiously! If she didn't see the date correctly she should be pardoned as should Pine.
This is crazy! I know Kim she is a yoga student of mine and I frequently sing karaoke at Pine for fun and she cards religiously! If she didn't see the date correctly she should be pardoned as should Pine.
What a shame Kim's a good bartender. Tax dollars waisted for what! So the state can take their money. That's why they are going after innocent people and letting the real criminals that are selling heroin to our youth get off. Where are your priorities. Both my older brothers are sheriff deputies and agree that the system is so messed up. This make's me sad.
This is so terrible! I feels so bad from Ron andKim. They are good honest people! Kim always IDs! And so does Ron at the door!
This made me upset cause for one Kim, Ron and the whole team have been great towards me. It really sucks that this happened but to put it on here is like you guys are putting the team on blast! That's not cool at all. PD has too much time on their hands and any underage person who goes into a bar should be charged for trespassing!
This made me upset cause for one Kim, Ron and the whole team have been great towards me. It really sucks that this happened but to put it on here is like you guys are putting the team on blast! That's not cool at all. PD has too much time on their hands and any underage person who goes into a bar should be charged for trespassing!
Melissa I agree with you on the HEROIN, a very sick problem in this town and A-town, I have kids and I know through them having some of their friends not only on the drug, how easy it is to get here, and they have had some of their friends die from heroin use… There are hundreds of wineries here… it is the calling card of the town now, so what they going to do, throw the baby out with the bath water… they ran the car show out of town because said they can not handle the "crime" element, what they going to do now, run all the wineries and bars out of town and let the heroin stay? I know the pine street is one of the main draws downtown for business. Ron donates to the Main Street Association, the building is a historic building in town, he runs a limo service SAFE RIDES to give people that drink too much a ride home FREE, Ron helps people with finding a room and he goes out of their way to keep it safe there… Kim is good at what she does and just read all the comments on the facebook page for this article…
Question why does it seem like the Police are out bust someone ? Why cant they when they do something to flip it. and make iit a training so this kind of thing does not happen . Or how about this have the police do an audit of bar or restaurant and help them with problem . YOU KNOW BE APART OF THE SOLUTION AND NOT THE PROBLEM…
Sounds like these guys have too much time on their hands. If an under age person has the balls to walk into a bar and order a drink, it isn't for their first drink, so what are you really stopping? Wasting tax dollars to see how much attention can be paid to 1 or 2 numbers on a tiny card. Meanwhile, some kid across town is getting beat up by his drunk father, which is way less illegal, apparently.
This is crazy! I know Kim she is a yoga student of mine and I frequently sing karaoke at Pine for fun and she cards religiously! If she didn't see the date correctly she should be pardoned as should Pine.
This is crazy! I know Kim she is a yoga student of mine and I frequently sing karaoke at Pine for fun and she cards religiously! If she didn't see the date correctly she should be pardoned as should Pine.
What a shame Kim's a good bartender. Tax dollars waisted for what! So the state can take their money. That's why they are going after innocent people and letting the real criminals that are selling heroin to our youth get off. Where are your priorities. Both my older brothers are sheriff deputies and agree that the system is so messed up. This make's me sad.
This is so terrible! I feels so bad from Ron andKim. They are good honest people! Kim always IDs! And so does Ron at the door!
This made me upset cause for one Kim, Ron and the whole team have been great towards me. It really sucks that this happened but to put it on here is like you guys are putting the team on blast! That's not cool at all. PD has too much time on their hands and any underage person who goes into a bar should be charged for trespassing!
This made me upset cause for one Kim, Ron and the whole team have been great towards me. It really sucks that this happened but to put it on here is like you guys are putting the team on blast! That's not cool at all. PD has too much time on their hands and any underage person who goes into a bar should be charged for trespassing!
Melissa I agree with you on the HEROIN, a very sick problem in this town and A-town, I have kids and I know through them having some of their friends not only on the drug, how easy it is to get here, and they have had some of their friends die from heroin use… There are hundreds of wineries here… it is the calling card of the town now, so what they going to do, throw the baby out with the bath water… they ran the car show out of town because said they can not handle the "crime" element, what they going to do now, run all the wineries and bars out of town and let the heroin stay? I know the pine street is one of the main draws downtown for business. Ron donates to the Main Street Association, the building is a historic building in town, he runs a limo service SAFE RIDES to give people that drink too much a ride home FREE, Ron helps people with finding a room and he goes out of their way to keep it safe there… Kim is good at what she does and just read all the comments on the facebook page for this article…
Question why does it seem like the Police are out bust someone ? Why cant they when they do something to flip it. and make iit a training so this kind of thing does not happen . Or how about this have the police do an audit of bar or restaurant and help them with problem . YOU KNOW BE APART OF THE SOLUTION AND NOT THE PROBLEM…