Man arrested for serving booze to teens at unlicensed dance club, police say

OREM — A man who police say was serving alcohol to underage patrons in a business that was neither zoned to be a nightclub nor licensed to serve alcohol to anyone has been arrested.

Giovanni Andres Medina Tovar, 29, of Magna, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of 11 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, 11 counts of selling alcohol to a minor, consumption of alcohol on an unlicensed premise, selling alcohol without a license, and for not having a permit to host a dance party.

Orem police began investigating in September “due to multiple encounters with individuals who were under the influence of alcohol leaving from 313 N. State Street in Orem, and due to social media posts advertising dances open to the public with alcohol being served,” according to a police booking affidavit.

After detectives learned that the business did not have a license to serve alcohol, undercover officers went to the club on Oct. 5 followed by officers with a search warrant, the affidavit states.

“It was discovered that multiple individuals under the age of 21 consumed alcohol,” according to the affidavit.

Those individuals were cited and released, and their parents were contacted.

Tovar was identified as the person serving alcohol inside of the club. On Wednesday, officers went to his home in Magna where he was arrested for an investigation of serving alcohol at a business without a license “while hosting a dance party which was open to the public without a city permit and for the party to be hosted between the hours of 11 p.m. and 4:30 a.m.,” the affidavit states.