AUGUSTA – In a written ruling Friday, the Maine Department of Public Safety, Liquor Licensing Division, upheld the Newport selectmen’s March 1 denial of Lucky’s Tavern and Restaurant’s liquor license.

The decision came nine weeks after an April 14 hearing during which police and other town officials told of dozens of incidents involving over-consumption at the bar, brawls and fights. The bar’s owner, Paul LaChance, and an employee, Brian Craigue, have both been arrested and are awaiting trial on assault charges involving several patrons.

Beyond the fighting, the state ruled that just two of the 10 drunken driving arrests stemming from Lucky’s would have been enough for Newport to prove its case.

“This decision is reflective of the Board of Selectmen’s opinions and the opinions of a good deal of Newport’s citizens,” Town Manager James Ricker said Friday. “Enough is enough. In the times that we live in, it is neither responsible nor right to turn loose on the public people that are three to four times over the legal limit.”

Ricker said the town’s selectmen sent “a clear message,” and the state supported that message.

“The town of Newport presented credible evidence of repeated incidents of breaches of the peace and/or disorderly conducted caused by the patrons,” the ruling stated.

Efforts made Friday to reach LaChance for comment were unsuccessful.

The ruling, signed by Lt. Patrick Fleming of the Maine State Police, stated that the appeal of the selectmen’s decision could be upheld if one or more of the following is proved: repeated incidents of breaches of the peace, disorderly conduct, vandalism or other violations of law on or in the vicinity of the premises and caused by persons patronizing or employed by the business.

During the April 14 hearing, some witnesses described being beaten and Maced at the tavern, while others recalled a car accident in which a patron of the bar left Lucky’s, drove his car into a house, was ejected and then trapped beneath the car.

The state’s ruling gave weight to the testimony of Officers Kevin Wintle and David Wintle regarding 10 OUI violations by Lucky’s patrons.

Wintle testified that he stopped drivers on Sept. 10, Sept. 24, Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, all in 2005, and that each driver said he had been drinking at Lucky’s. All tested above the legal limit.

“Any two of these incidents, in and of themselves, would support a finding by clear and convincing evidence that the municipality’s finding of repeated incidents of record,” the ruling stated.

Fleming said Lucky’s Tavern must stop selling alcohol at midnight, July 6. The decision can be appealed within 30 days, he said, through the district court system.

Even after the hearing before the state board, over-consumption at the bar continued, police Chief Leonard Macdaid said, including one intoxicated motorist who tested .29 blood alcohol, more than three times the legal limit.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this,” Macdaid said Friday. “I don’t wish anyone to suffer a business loss. But we really had no choice. It was a matter of public safety.”

Fleming said that more towns are cracking down on establishments that allow overconsumption and rowdy behavior.

“I’ve been [with the board] for two years,” he said. “In the first year, we did one appeal. In the past year, we’ve done four. Towns are getting more proactive.”

The board heard – and denied – appeals of licenses for bars in Portland, Otisfield and Newport, Fleming said, including Ushuaia nightclub in Orono. Problems at the popular college club over the years have included assaults, underage drinking and drug use in the parking lot, alleged rapes and stabbings. Ushuaia’s owners are reportedly appealing the denial in District Court.

Bangor Daily News reporter Judy Harrison contributed to this report.