WAILUKU - The Maui County Liquor Control Adjudication Board revoked the liquor license of Hang Loose Lounge on Dairy Road on Thursday after a third offense of serving a minor, The Maui News reported today.

There were five licensees up on charges as a result of a sting operation using an 18-year-old decoy last May and June, but only Hang Loose was in much danger of loosing its license. It had two previous convictions for the same offense within the past five years.

The other licensees were all first-time offenders.

In announcing the penalty, Vice Chairman Darren Lopez said, "This was a very hard decision" but the issue was important. "We're sorry."

The Department of Liquor Control had recommended revocation. For a third offense, the board had only two choices: a 30-day suspension or revocation.

Owner Sean McDaniel pleaded no contest. He had explained that the same server had failed to check identification before, earning him his second strike, and that this time he fired her.

After hearing the verdict, he said, "I understand that it falls on the owner, but we can't be there 24/7. I don't believe the first time it happens you fire someone. And for that you're going to pull my license?

"You train them. Then, if it happens again, you know it's the individual."

Since McDaniel had pleaded no contest, he cannot appeal the penalty.

Under liquor department rules, a fourth strike within five years means an automatic revocation. Director of Liquor Control Frank Sylva says it has never come to that. "They go out of business, or they sell."

Even a third-strike revocation is uncommon.

According to Deputy County Prosecutor Scott Hanano, a sting team visited the Hang Loose Lounge just before midnight. An 18-year-old carrying a valid license and marked dollar bills went into the bar and asked for a beer, which was served.

The server did not ask for identification. If she had, the license would have shown, in red, that the decoy was under 21 until 2011.

McDaniel said the server was too busy to check. "She was terminated immediately," he said.

The board can revoke a license for any offense, but for a first offense, the usual penalty is a $2,000 fine, often with half suspended if there are no further offenses within a year.

That was the penalty Hang Loose got for an offense in September 2003. A second offense in July 2007 resulted in a 10-day suspension.

McDaniel said he was too upset to comment further on Thursday.

As for the first-time offenders:

When a teen is used as a decoy, a team of liquor control inspectors and a police officer accompany him. In this case, the officer was Nick Krau, often honored for his work in collaring drunken drivers.

Krau followed the teen closely, and that caught bartender Ron Taylor at Mama's Fish House. He knew Krau and he said that when he saw someone come in with an officer, it never occurred to him that a police officer would bring in an underage person.

"I did not do my job," he said.

Cary & Eddie's Hideway was caught a few nights later. Owner Eddie Hernandez said his server asked for ID and looked at it while Hernandez watched from a short distance. The server is "going blind" but is too vain to wear glasses, and couldn't read the card, said Hernandez.

Hernandez said it would hurt, especially with business as slow as it is now, but he would pay his fine and survive.

The other licensees up for first offenses were Unisan and the Minit Stop in Makawao.

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.