BC students get Fenway restaurant in trouble

An underage BC student and his equally underage friend who were turned away from an event at the Baseball Tavern walked across the street to Tony C's, where they had no trouble getting drinks, a Boston Police detective said today.

Tony C's acknowledged being caught by surprise by the sudden influx of people late on an otherwise quiet, non-game Monday night in August and said it's taken steps to prevent a recurrence.

BPD Sgt. Det. Robert Mulvey told the Boston Licensing Board this morning that he and his partner conducted an unscheduled inspection of Tony C's around 11:45 p.m. on Aug. 28 and found a table of young-looking patrons. One of them, a 20-year-old BC student, had used a 23-year-old BC student's Massachusetts license to get in and buy a rum and coke; an acquaintance, a 20-year-old woman, used a faked New York license to acquire a Corona beer.

Mulvey and a Tony C's manager said the two drinkers were refugees from a BC event at the Baseball Tavern, which had barred them from entry for being too young.

The manager said the eatery has reemphasized to its staff the importance of ID checking and is using a "secret shopper" to test compliance.

The two drinkers face court hearings to determine if they should be charged as minors in possession of alcohol; the of-age student faces a similar hearing on possiby being charged with letting an underage person use his license to get a drink.

The licensing board decides Thursday what action, if any, to take.