RESEDA BAR LOSES ITS LIQUOR LICENSE.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS 

Staff Writer

RESEDA -- A rowdy neighborhood bar where undercover investigators discovered illegal escort services, drug use and underage drinking lost its liquor license Friday after years of complaints from residents.

Mi Cielito Lindo at 18146 Sherman Way was under investigation for five years, said Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Gabriel Kearney of the West Valley Division.

"We found people urinating, passed out, a lot of fights and a lot of drugs," Kearney said. "It is the owner's responsibility to control all the activity that goes on in their bar. They are supposed to be shooing these people away and instead they are turning their heads."

The announcement was welcome news to residents who have complained about unruly behavior outside the bar, whose names roughly translates to My Little Sweetheart.

The owner of the bar, Oscar Escalante, could not be reached for comment.

Kearney said undercover investigators found underage drinking inside the bar, illegal escorts and "drunk service," in which bartenders serve alcohol to intoxicated patrons.

When a liquor license is revoked, the establishment does not have to shut down, Kearney said, but it can no longer serve alcohol.

Cielito Lindo is the second bar in the West Valley to lose its liquor license. El Coyote, at De Soto Avenue and Sherman Way, was shut down two weeks ago, Kearney said.

Garth Carlson, chairman of Reseda Neighborhood Council, said residents living near the bar have long complained about loud music and raucous parties in the bar's parking lot well past 2 a.m.

"This bar was an eyesore," Carlson said. "It was definitely not a positive influence. This is a good thing."

connie.llanos(at)dailynews.com

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