Liquor Commission: Gas Light served fatal crash driver. Bar blames speeding, not drinks.

CONCORD — Tyler Troy, the driver in a fatal crash in Portsmouth last Thanksgiving, had a .224 blood alcohol concentration, about three times the legal limit, a New Hampshire Liquor Commission investigator testified Wednesday.

Portsmouth Gas Light Co. restaurant's co-owners and their attorney hit back against the commission’s allegation it served alcohol to the “visibly intoxicated man” less than an hour before the single-vehicle accident at the city traffic circle at 1:17 a.m. Nov. 24, 2022. The crash sent all six passengers in a 2018 Porsche Macan to area hospitals, taking the life of 21-year-old Barrington, New Hampshire resident Drew Ceppetelli, a student-athlete at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

“The cause of this accident was (Troy) trying to show off, not the intoxication,” Gas Light attorney Jon Flagg said Wednesday, arguing speeding, not drinking, was the cause.

Troy, 23, a Northwood resident, was indicted by a Rockingham County Superior Court grand jury in July on eight charges: negligent homicide while under the influence, negligent homicide, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated and two counts of reckless conduct. He is awaiting a trial date.

Wednesday's hearing featured the Liquor Commission’s prosecution squaring off against the Gas Light and its attorney.

Investigator says Troy served 'at least three' drinks at Gas Light

Liquor Commission investigator Brian Hebert testified Troy went to six different Portsmouth establishments the night of Wednesday, Nov. 23 and early morning Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. The list includes Legends Billiards & Tavern, Tj’s Food and Spirits, the Goat Bar and Grill, Thirsty Moose Taphouse, the Press Room and the Gas Light.

Hebert stated the first Gas Light receipt belonging to Troy was at 10:13 p.m. on Nov. 23, and his last charge at the Gas Light was at 12:31 a.m. on Nov. 24. Reported by New Hampshire State Police, the crash at the Portsmouth traffic circle occurred less than an hour later.

Hebert said Troy consumed “at least three” alcoholic beverages at the Gas Light.

The hearing also included testimony from Ian Gutierrez and Arianna Sage, who said they were out that night in Portsmouth with a group of friends that included Ceppetelli and Troy.

Sage testified she has known Troy since middle school, and she and Gutierrez, her boyfriend, were part of the group with Troy at the Gas Light.

Sage said Troy was slumped over the counter at the Gas Light’s upstairs bar and dance floor as he ordered a drink. Sage said she felt Troy shouldn’t have been served another drink at that point.

Gutierrez testified: “He didn’t look sober. He had a sway to him.”

An image of Troy outside the Thirsty Moose was shown during Wednesday's hearing with the prosecution stating it appeared he was unsteady on his feet before going to the Gas Light. Flagg, representing the Gas Light, disagreed.

Gas Light co-owners and staff defend themselves

Brothers and Gas Light co-owners Paul and Eric Sorli, after Wednesday's hearing, stated their staff followed their training in the hours leading up to the accident.

“They acted exactly as they’re trained to do,” Paul Sorli said.

“They’re very professional,” Eric Sorli said. “They’re on the job.”

Testimony in the hearing included Gas Light staff members Katherine Maglaras and Krystal Reilly (a former employee) and Patrick Maher, its security manager. They stated that after the crash, they did not recognize Troy in photos, nor as a customer who was visibly intoxicated.

The Gas Light attorney and co-owners elaborated on their claim Troy's intoxication didn't cause the crash.

Eric Sorli said drivers are not aided by road markings to alert them they are about to enter a traffic circle as they're approaching it on the Route 1 Bypass.

“It’s not like he's from Portsmouth and (was) necessarily familiar with it,” Flagg said of Troy. “He gets on a double-lane road and he can gun it, then all of a sudden, there's a traffic circle.”

Flagg asked Hebert to read a portion of an affidavit with testimony from a passenger in the vehicle Troy was driving.“Upon the arrival of additional units, Sergeant (Max) Webber with Portsmouth police spoke with Troy, who appeared extremely distraught, and he stated, ‘I was driving. I was trying to be cool. I think I killed my friends.’ Afterwards, he said he was drinking,” Hebert read.

Maglaras, Maher and Reilly said the entire Gas Light staff receives New Hampshire Liquor Commission-required training, in addition to ServSafe training mandated by the Gas Light, and searches for signs of intoxication among guests.

Troy is not a party in the commission’s case against the Gas Light.

On Dec. 10, 2022, the New Hampshire Liquor Commission temporarily revoked the Gas Light’s liquor license following an investigation by the commission’s Division of Enforcement & Licensing. Three days later, however, Judge Andrew R. Schulman ordered a due process hearing on the matter, and the license was regranted in Rockingham County Superior Court.

What happens next in Gas Light case

The maximum penalty against the Gas Light could be a $500 fine and a three-day license suspension, according to hearing officer Stephen Judge, who presided over Wednesday's testimony. However, an “aggravated maximum penalty” could be handed down that would include a fine of up to $2,500 and a license suspension of 10 consecutive days.

Judge noted the commission’s prosecution is seeking the aggravated maximum penalty to be given to the Gas Light.

According to Judge, a decision and possible penalty could be handed down on or before Friday, Dec. 8.

“No matter what I decide, there is nothing I can do in an order that will ease the senseless death of Drew Ceppetelli,” Judge said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH Liquor Commission, Gas Light square off over cause of fatal crash