NJ police shut down illegal warehouse bar amid COVID restrictions after finding 200 people partying inside - and arrest two women
Two women have been arrested in New Jersey for allegedly running an illegal bar out of a warehouse, where police say they discovered 200 people drinking alcohol, eating and gambling amid the raging COVID pandemic.
Denisse Tinizaray, 26, and Katherine Tinizaray, 28, both of Newark, were each charged with maintaining an illegal alcohol establishment, illegal possession of alcohol and illegal sale of alcohol following a police raid on their illicit watering hole early Sunday morning.
According to a statement from the Newark Department of Public Safety, at around midnight on Sunday, detectives with the Newark Police Division’s Vice Crimes Task Force investigated reports of a large party at a warehouse located at 6 Libella Court.
Katherine Tinizaray, 28 (left), and Denisse Tinizaray, 26 (right), have been charged with running an illegal bar and gambling den out of a Newark warehouse
Police raided this warehouse on Libella Court in Newark early Sunday and found 200 people drinking, eating and gambling inside
Responding detectives allegedly observed two woman, later identified as Katherine and Denisse Tinizaray, selling alcoholic beverages from behind a makeshift bar.
The warehouse was said to have been crowded with some 200 revelers enjoying drinks and refreshments, in violation of coronavirus restrictions banning indoor gatherings of more than 25 people. Some of the patrons were reportedly participating in illegal gambling.
'Neither of the two women behind the bar were able to produce the appropriate paperwork proving they held a license to sell alcohol,' the agency said in the release.
It is unclear whether the two women, who share a last name, are related. DailyMail.com on Monday reached out to the Department of Public Safety seeking comment.
The raid in Newark comes two weeks after police in Trenton arrested Miran Lisbeth Ramirez-Salguero, 50, for allegedly running an illegal bar out of her home, where officers found 45 people drinking beer, reported NJ.com. They seized nearly $1,000 in cash and more than 80 small bags of cocaine.
Police said they found Katherine Tinizaray (left and right) and Denisse Tinizaray behind a makeshift bar. Neither woman had an alcohol license
