Taps and Dolls in downtown Indianapolis denied liquor license renewal by state commission

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission voted Tuesday morning to deny Taps and Dolls a liquor license renewal.

The vote from the state board comes a little more than a week after the Marion County Alcoholic Beverage Board recommended denying the bar its liquor license citing safety concerns.

Both the local and state boards voted to deny the bar's license renewal with a 4-0 vote. Its liquor license is set to expire on May 26.

On March 7, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and several community members spoke at the local meeting.

"It's chaos, disorder and violence," IMPD Capt. Christopher Boomershine said.

IMPD told the boards they have responded to hundreds of calls at the bars.

"The downtown district has spent over a million dollars some years trying to control all of the chaos, disorder, violence associated with the bar crowds," Boomershine said.

Taps and Dolls' owner admitted to the board that he previously provided them with false information regarding a different liquor license.

More than 15 pages of code violations and concerns about safety led the board to deny Taps and Dolls liquor license.

Boomershine said the violence has been so bad that dozens of officers work overtime in front of the bars Thursday trough Sunday to keep up.

Tiki Bob's a bar next-door to Taps and Dolls, was given a second chance by both the state and local boards. On Tuesday, the state board said the bar hasn't been cited by Indiana Excise Police.

The owner of the permit and bar told the local board they were going to make several improvements:

• Updating technology with ID scanners
• Giving bartenders and servers additional training on overserving
• Removing guests who are smoking anything, including illegal substances, while inside the bar
• Making changes to its VIP line, which allows people to jump to the front of the line by paying an additional fee

Last week, both bars declined to comment to WRTV.

WRTV Reporter Rachael Wilkerson and Real-Time Editor Michelle Kaufman contributed to this report.