Warning For Danvers Bar Where Ex-State Cop Was At Center Of Fight

DANVERS, MA -- A bar where a former State Police officer was involved in a fight will lose its liquor license for one day, but only if it violates rules for Danvers liquor license holders in the next year. Selectmen issued the suspended license suspension to the Osborn Tavern with a 3-1 vote Monday night, with Diane Langlais casting the opposing vote.

The suspension comes because the Osborn's staff did not contact police after having to physically remove a patron who refused to leave. A bar manager suffered a concussion in the altercation. Osborn Tavern owner Joel Hartnett told selectmen that because police arrived immediately following the altercation, his staff assumed they were relieved of that responsibility.

"As far as not calling the police, I was helpful as I could be after," said Hartnett, who was not at the bar on the night of the fight. Danvers Police Chief Patrick Ambrose said Hartnett had been helpful in their investigation, giving them surveillance video.

The fight involved Leigha Genduso, who was suspended from the Massachusetts State Police in February and resigned last month. Genduso had been working as at the Osborn Tavern but was in the bar as a customer that night. She helped the bar manager and bartender remove the patron, who was with friends Sean Bucci, the drug dealer Genduso testified against in 2007 in exchange for immunity.

"The off-duty bartender should have stayed out of it," Langlais said in reference to Genduso. "At that point she was a patron and totally out of line."

Genduso stopped working at the Osborn shortly after the incident. During Monday's meeting, selectmen ruled Precinct 1 Town Meeting member Matthew Duggan out of order when he suggested Genduso may have shown her police badge, escalating the situation. "It's relevant to this situation. It could suggest a coverup is going on," he said.

Genduso was ultimately ousted from the state police for failing to disclose her immunity deal when she applied to be a trooper in 2012. A state police report issued last month places all of the blame on Genduso, saying her "omissions and deceptive responses" were the reason the background check did not uncover ties to the drug dealer.

The report only notes that Genduso was living with Daniel Risteen when she applied to become a state trooper in 2012. Risteen was third in command at the Massachusetts State Police until he retired in February. Nor does the report conclude that the inclusion of Risteen's friend, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Hughes, on the three-person review board that approved Genduso's background investigation was a factor in her hiring.

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2014 photo of Leigha Genduso by Massachusetts State Police.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).