Rockville Hooters Could Lose License for Serving Drunk Driver Who Killed Cop

ROCKVILLE, MD — A Hooters restaurant on Rockville Pike could lose its liquor license for serving the drunk driver who fatally struck Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta.

Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, of Rolling Meadow Way in Olney, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by motor vehicle last month in the death of Leotta. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Montgomery County Police forwarded a report from the Leotta case to liquor control officials noting that the Hooters at 1584 Rockville Pike may have violated the law by serving drinks to Reluzco.

Kathie Durbin, division chief at the Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control, says the restaurant could be fined up to $20,000, have its liquor license suspended or lose its license altogether if Reluzco was overserved.

A hearing for the reported liquor violations is scheduled for June 16.

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Hooters of America officials told Montgomery Community Media it couldn’t comment directly on the case. “However, all Hooters’ employees are trained on responsible alcohol service and Hooters expects its employees to follow and adhere to those policies,” the company statement said.

Officer Leotta, 24, was hit Dec. 3, 2015, by Reluzco’s car during a traffic stop on Rockville Pike; he died a week later.

Reluzco was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He had been arrested twice before for drunk driving and a previous conviction for drug possession.

Reluzco turned himself in to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 11 following a grand jury’s indictment, police said. Reluzco was charged with manslaughter by automobile and failure to move over for an emergency vehicle on a highway.

Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger in January denounced the drunk-driving suspect in Leotta’s death, along with what he called Maryland’s weak laws that do little to punish offenders.

“(Leotta) was killed by a man who decided to smoke some dope, drink for four hours and get behind the wheel of a car,” Manger said. “This officer was killed serving the public, trying to prevent the exact crime that killed him.”

SEE ALSO:

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• Police Chief Denounces ‘Drunk Driver,’ State’s Weak Laws
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• Slain Officer’s Parents Lobby for ‘Noah’s Law’

Leotta’s grieving parents traveled to the Maryland statehouse several times to ask for a stricter law regulating convicted drunk drivers, like the man accused of fatally hitting their son.

Rich Leotta and Marcia Goldman, were at a February news conference and still visibly shaken from the loss of their son.

“My dreams are gone, I can’t get him back…I don’t want my son forgotten,” Rich Leotta said.

They joined state delegates and representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in urging lawmakers to expand mandatory ignition interlocks to all drunken driving offenders in Maryland.

»Photo of suspect Luis Gustavo Reluzco, courtesy of Montgomery County Police