Attachment - Dollar General Store #25371 - Police Recommendation.pdf

City of Phoenix — Formal (2024-05-01)

Extracted text (via ocr_local) 9401 characters

LIQUOR LICENSE DISAPPROVAL FORM

Police Department Liquor License Disapproval Recommendation

Application Information

The Police Department recommends disapproval of this liquor license application for the
following reasons:

Dollar General #25371 controlling person Mr. Chad Hawkins, in accordance with Arizona Revised
Statute 4-203.A is not capable, qualified and reliable to own and operate a Series 10 liquor license.
This decision was made due to multiple concerns discovered during the investigation. These
include, errors found on the State Questionnaire and City Questionnaire, code violations through
the Neighborhood Services Department due to blight issues, inconsistencies between the interview
with the applicant, Mr. Hawkins, and the store manager, Ms. DeJesus, calls for service at the
location, and the saturation of liquor licenses in the area.

State Questionnaire
THE APPLICATION WAS FALSIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER:

A.R.S. 4-210.A.3 states “The licensee or controlling person knowingly files with the department an
application or other document that contains material information that is false or misleading... ,

On the State Questionnaire, Chad Hawkins is listed on the liquor application as the agent for Dollar
General #25371. Initially, before the interview was conducted during the preliminary investigation,
Officer Chester observed obvious errors on the State Questionnaire. The State Questionnaire
consists of questions regarding the applicant’s biographical information. Most of this was left blank,
and only limited information was provided.

Furthermore, on question #12, Mr. Hawkins answered “YES” as the controlling person who would
be physically present and managing the day-to-day operation of the licensed premises. However,
during Officer Chester's interview with Mr. Hawkins on March 29, 2024, he stated that while he lives
locally, he is the District Manager and responsible for many other Dollar General locations in the
area. He said he is required to check on the store every 45 days but he usually stops in
approximately once every two weeks to meet with the store manager, Claire DeJesus. Mr. Hawkins
stated Ms. DeJesus is involved in the day-to-day operation of the establishment including hiring and
firing of employees as well as other managerial responsibilities. It should be noted, Claire DeJesus
was not listed as a manager for the liquor license, despite the confirmation from Mr. Hawkins that
she was in fact the manager at the store. Furthermore, as Officer Chester continued to interview
him regarding questions related to the State Questionnaire, Mr. Hawkins said he would be honest,
and indicated he did not fill out the State Questionnaire. He stated his company filled it out and told
him to apply for the liquor license.

City Questionnaire

In addition to the errors on the State Questionnaire, there were also errors on the City
Questionnaire:

Question #8 on the City Questionnaire states “Please list all persons having any ownership interest
in the business, or in the profits of the business. This includes persons with less than a 10%
interest.” This should never be left blank, but on Mr. Hawkins City Questionnaire, he listed “N/A” in
the response section.

Page 1 of 3

LIQUOR LICENSE DISAPPROVAL FORM

Question #9 on the City Questionnaire states “How much was paid for the business? Please include
all start-up costs, including the cost of the liquor license”. This question also should not be blank, as
everyone has to pay something, even if it’s just fees. Mr. Hawkins also wrote “N/A’ as a response.

The lack of knowledge Mr. Hawkins has regarding this application for a liquor license poses
concern for his ability to successfully manage a liquor license at this establishment.

Code Enforcement Violations Observed

On April 4, 2024, Officer Chester drove to the Dollar General store, located at 2650 W. Glendale
Avenue, to meet with Claire DeJesus, the store manager. It should be noted, when Officer Chester
arrived at the location, there were debris and trash scattered throughout the property and the
parking lot. Upon inquiring with Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) it was determined Dollar
General has caused blight conditions at this location in the City of Phoenix, due to failure to control
trash and graffiti. They were given a citation by NSD (case PEF2022-42287) in March 2021 (citation
# 2194919). Due to additional blight concerns observed by Officer Chester, NSD was advised and a
new case was initiated. (PEF 2024-13981). These blight conditions encourage unhoused people to
camp next to and at their locations. This is evidenced by the calls for service from March 3, 2023 to
March 3, 2024. In this timeframe 80 calls for service were placed for individuals trespassing on the

| property.

Interview With Store Manager

Once inside the establishment, Officer Chester met with Ms. DeJesus, who indicated she has been
a manger there since the inception of the store on 3/3/2024. She outright stated she does not want
the store to start selling liquor and indicated it would be a “headache”. When Officer Chester asked
why, Ms. DeJesus stated she is going to have more problems than she has now with theft and
shoplifting. According to the diagram provided in the liquor application, Dollar General indicated
they will have alcohol right near the front door, with no point of sale in between the front door and
the alcohol. Officer Chester asked if they had security to help mitigate this issue, and Ms. DeJesus
replied “no”.

With regard to their staff, Ms. DeJesus stated that there are 4 managers and 3 sales associates
employed at this location. However, due to budgeting issues, the store only wants one person to be
working at the store at a time. Ms. DeJesus said despite what corporate says, for safety reasons,
she does not feel comfortable with that so always makes sure there is two people working at a time.
She also indicated some of her employees have told her they will quit if they get a liquor license due
to the issues a liquor license will bring to the store. Officer Chester asked Ms. DeJesus how often
she meets with Mr. Hawkins. Ms. DeJesus said she would see him today because “corporate is
out”, but before today, she has not seen him for 63 days. She further indicated he does not come in
every two weeks or even 45 days for that matter. When Officer Chester asked if Mr. Hawkins had
possibly been in the store and met with another manager, she said that she was the only manager
he spoke with, so he would not have come in at another time without her knowing about it.

Calls For Service

A record check of the calls for service at this location was completed for a one year timespan from
the inception of the store on March 3, 2023 to March 3, 2024. Within that time frame there have

Page 2 of 3

LIQUOR LICENSE DISAPPROVAL FORM

been 217 calls for service, 37 incident reports, and 10 arrests made. Of these calls, four of them are
violent in nature indicating an act of violence occurred on the property. Two of these four notable
incidents are listed below:

2024-96247, 1/20/2024, Assault report completed where the store manager, Ms. DeJesus was assaulted.
She asked an individual to leave the premises and was then assaulted by him when he hit her on the arm and
spit on her.

2024-273094, 2/23/2024, Strong Armed Robbery occurred on the premise. An elderly gentleman in a
wheelchair was on the premises and was approached by two individuals who prevented him from leaving,
robbing him of personal items and then leaving him.

Sufficient Other Liquor Licenses to Meet Need and Convenience

The public convenience and the best interest of the community would not be served by the
issuance of this liquor license. The applicant is currently running a Dollar General where a majority
of the store is dedicated to low-cost items including non-alcoholic beverages, snacks, household
items and other similar types of merchandise. Four businesses near the Dollar General currently
hold liquor licenses and sell alcohol/liquor/wine.

7/11 Gas Station, 2651 W Glendale Ave < 200 ft
Circle K, 2702 W Glendale Ave < 275 ft

La Consentida, 2647 W Glendale Ave < 360 ft
Ain't Nicks Tavern, 6840 N 27" Ave < 380 feet

Due to the aforementioned factors and the fact that the applicant Mr. Chad Hawkins failed to submit
the city questionnaire in time for the Police Department to conduct the requisite complete review, he
is not capable, qualified, or reliable to own and operate a liquor license within the City of Phoenix.

This recommendation for disapproval is submitted by: Officer S. Chester 10641
SIGNATURES

Administrative Licensing Investigator |l. Alonge A4289 G Pen dns A.
Liquor Enforcement Detail Supervisor (Sgt. M. Walter 8360 Whhi he

Page 3 of 3