Bar manager expresses regret over ballpark slaying

The manager of Moe's Tavern, the Fishtown bar that sponsored the outing to Saturday's Phillies game that ended in a fatal brawl outside the ballpark, yesterday said that everyone associated with Moe's was "sickened" by the brutal beating death of 22-year-old David Sale.

"It's despicable," Ed Omelia said. "Everyone here feels terrible about this. It's a tragedy, and our hearts and prayers go out to David Sale's family, his friends, anyone who was affected by this."

Three men who were part of the Moe's outing have been charged with murder in the slaying of the Lansdale man. Sale, who had gone to the game with seven other people celebrating a bachelor party, was unconscious when rescuers got to him. He was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Two of the men - 35-year-old Charles Bowers and 45-year-old James Groves, who also goes by the name Jim Grove - were regulars at Moe's, Omelia said. Bowers sometimes worked there as a bouncer, and Groves occasionally stopped by on his way home from work.

The third suspect, 28-year-old Francis Kirchner, lives across the street from Moe's. Omelia said Kirchner never came in.

Yesterday, some City Council members said they would move forward with legislation sitting in committee that would force the owners of bars, restaurants, and other "food-service" establishments to call 911 "in the event of the occurrence of a violent crime, or threat of imminent occurrence of a violent crime, on the premises or in the immediate vicinity."

According to police, the fatal beating actually began with a violent confrontation inside McFadden's pub during the later innings of Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Sometime after the seventh inning, members of the Moe's group and Sale's bachelor party found themselves at McFadden's, which is inside the ballpark and one of the only places where you can buy a drink after the seventh inning.

Omelia said he and some others from his group repaired to McFadden's because "we were sitting in our seats, and it was so hot we couldn't stand it anymore."

McFadden's was packed wall-to-wall with people, Omelia said.

Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl said yesterday that someone in Sale's group bumped into someone in the Moe's group, causing a drink to be spilled on a woman who had come from Moe's.

After that, fights broke out, and McFadden's forced both groups to leave.

Omelia said he caught only a glimpse of the skirmish before he was tossed out of the bar with his friends. Once outside, Omelia parted ways with the group and caught a ride back to Moe's, where he planned to set up the DJ booth before the crowd returned from the stadium.

Police said the arguments continued outside McFadden's, and fistfights broke out.

Eventually, police say, Bowers, Groves, and Kirchner jumped on Sale and punched him until he collapsed, and then stomped and kicked him until he was rendered unconscious.

Phillies fans and Philadelphians in general have reacted to the beating death with outrage and disgust.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said this week that he would ask City Council to pass a bill requiring establishments to call the police when patrons start trouble and are thrown out.

It was not clear yesterday whether someone at McFadden's did so Saturday.

Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. said yesterday that he supported Ramsey's proposal.

Council could retool a bill introduced last September that would require individuals operating a food establishment to "cooperate" in reporting violent crimes, Jones said, adding that the legislation "may be amended to have more teeth."

Jones said he would consider sharpening the language and pushing for tougher penalties, such as steep fines or the loss of a liquor license, for bar owners who fail to report fights and other violent incidents to police.

"If you sell a drink to someone and there's an altercation, are you in some way responsible for keeping the peace?" Jones asked. "I would say yes."

But requiring bar owners to call police when they throw out a patron or break up a fight could cause headaches when owners try to renew liquor licenses, said Amy Christie, executive director of the Pennsylvania Tavern Association, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit that advocates for liquor licensees.

When bar owners apply for a renewal, she said, local police are required to report each time they visited that establishment. Ramsey's proposal has the potential to overburden the Liquor Control Board with "a file five inches thick" for each renewal, Christie said.

"If you have to eject a patron and they leave, why call the police and bother them with that?" she said.

Before blaming bar owners for the incident this weekend, City Council members should evaluate the stadium's security and alcohol-distribution policies, Christie added.

Sale's family has declined to comment, and did not comment yesterday.

Moe's Tavern, at 1235 E. Palmer St. just off Girard Avenue, is housed in a narrow brick building with a stained-glass window in front. The dimly lit bar is larger than it appears from the outside, and goes back past the main bar area to include a DJ booth, a dance floor, and a game room in back.

Most of the regular customers are union workers, Omelia said, or people who work at local hospitals. The bar also draws plenty of young people from the neighborhood, he said.

Omelia said fights at Moe's were rare.

Most of the customers are friends, and can help one another diffuse potential problems, said bartender Mike Kandel.

But one of their regulars, Bowers, was sentenced in October 1995 to 6 to 23 months in prison for stabbing a teenager after a fight broke out at a party. The victim spent a week in intensive care before recovering.

Kirchner pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges involving the brutal beating of a man who had just exited Moe's. On Saturday, Kirchner was in the midst of serving a four-year probationary sentence, and undergoing anger-management counseling, ordered by the court as a result of his guilty plea.

Omelia said that the bar was not responsible for what happened on Saturday.

"We feel horrible about this," Omelia said. "We all do. But the bottom line is this wasn't the bar's fault."

The bar sponsors players in a local golf tournament, Omelia said.

And Saturday's bus trip to Citizens Bank Park was the first it had ever sponsored, Omelia said. About 35 to 40 people piled on the bus, including parents and their children.

The bus trip was organized to raise money for a local autism organization, www.autismspeaks.org. Fliers for the organization decorated the area behind the bar yesterday.