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Owners of Sail’s Inn will transfer liquor license

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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A little more than seven months after Sails Inn was temporarily closed after two men were killed there, the owners agreed to transfer the Uniontown bar’s liquor license to a third party.

The consent decree between District Attorney Rich Bower and the bar’s owners, Thomas P. Elias and Maureen A. Elias, was hammered out Monday, when a hearing to determine whether Sails Inn would be permanently closed was scheduled.

Under the agreement, whomever takes over the liquor license cannot have any direct or indirect connection to the Eliases, their employees, or their family members, and until the license is transferred, the North Gallatin Avenue bar will remain closed.

Bower said the agreement was reviewed and approved by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, state police and Uniontown police. The PLCB must approve the new license owner before it is transferred.

Sails Inn has been closed since March 15, when Judge Linda Cordaro signed a temporary order shuttering the bar after Bower filed a civil suit alleging it was a nuisance establishment. The filing cited over 70 incidents in which police were called to Sail’s Inn, including the March 8 shooting deaths of Tommy Stargell Jr., 28, and Darroll Gregg, 32, both of Uniontown.

Daryl Maurice Truley, 32, of Uniontown, is wanted for the killing of Gregg. Police indicated Stargell was trying to break up a fight between Gregg and Truley, who were both armed. Truley remains wanted by police.

Monday’s agreement doesn’t deem Sails Inn a nuisance bar, a claim the Eliases have denied, but notes the owners wanted to avoid the uncertainty and potential expense of further litigation.

Mark Rowan, the attorney for the Eliases, said his clients will be able to continue acting as landlords at the location if they so choose to do so. They are also permitted to continue operating the hotel that is in the same building as the bar.

According to the agreement, while they may continue to act as landlords, the Eliases are not permitted to act as owners, managers, consultants or employees at Sails Inn.

“When you operate a bar, there’s a risk,” Rowan said, adding that the situation that led to the temporary injunction was difficult for everyone.

The Eliases are permitted access to Sails Inn for the purpose of cleaning, removing personal property, or for showing the space to a realtor or potential buyers, lessees or tenants; however, the arrangements for that access must be made beforehand between the Eliases, Bower and the Uniontown Police Department.

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