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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Maui hotel to pay $50,000 liquor fine

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — The Hyatt Regency Maui yesterday was fined $50,000 for providing liquor to two underage California men who were with Lauren Crossan just before the 18-year-old New Jersey cheerleader fell nine stories to her death Jan. 12.

Lauren Crossan

The Maui County Liquor Adjudication Board approved the negotiated plea agreement after hearing a statement from Crossan's parents, their first since her death, in which they accused the hotel of failing to exercise caution and of allowing the two men to illegally obtain alcohol and give it to their daughter and her high school friends.

Hyatt representatives said there's no evidence that any of the drinks ended up in the hands of the Randolph High School senior, who arrived on Maui on

Jan. 11 to join hundreds of other cheerleaders scheduled to perform at the Hula Bowl Maui college all-star football game in Wailuku.

The board assessed a $2,000 fine for each of 25 violations to which the Hyatt pleaded no contest, all but one alleging the resort sold liquor to Eric B. Larson, 20, and Donald L. Devorss, 19, both of Folsom, Calif., and failed to properly check their identification. The legal drinking age in Hawai'i is 21.

Crossan's nude body was discovered the morning of Jan. 12 below the Lahaina Tower room registered to the California guests. County medical examiner Dr. Anthony Manoukian set the woman's death at between 1:30 and 3 a.m., and said her injuries were consistent with an accidental fall.

Autopsy results indicated she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent, which is twice the legal threshold for drunken driving, Manoukian said.

Larson and Devorss told police they had gone to sleep at around 1:30 a.m. and didn't know what happened to Crossan until they were informed of her death later that day.

The Crossans said they don't want to excuse the errors in judgment their daughter made in going to Larson's guest room or in accepting drinks from him.

"But we also believe that we had every right to expect that a distinguished resort hotel property like the Maui Regency would exercise some degree of caution in enforcing the liquor laws of your state. That did not happen in this instance," they said.

Hyatt attorney Derek Kobayashi said it was a case of hotel bartenders being deceived by two guests with California IDs bearing photos of men who looked remarkably like them.

Barry Lewin, Hyatt general manager, said the hotel has always strictly enforced the underage drinking law but is now re-emphasizing in training that everyone must be carded.