He’s Not Here Agrees to Offer with ABC Commission

Chapel Hill bar He’s Not Here has signed an offer in compromise with the North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission in connection with violations the night of a triple-fatal wrong way crash on I-85 this summer.

The offer in compromise, which will not be official until it is ratified by the ABC Board, calls for a suspension of the bar’s alcohol permits for a minimum of 21 days and a $15,000 fine.

He’s Not Here and La Residence were investigated for allegedly serving alcohol to a group of underage patrons, including 20-year-old Chandler Kania, in July. The night in question resulted in Kania driving the wrong way on I-85 for at least six miles, according to law enforcement, before crashing head-on into another vehicle. The crash killed three of the four passengers in the second vehicle, including a six-year-old girl. Kania’s blood-alcohol content the night of the crash was a .17, twice the legal limit to drive in North Carolina, according to court records.

La Res agreed to an offer in compromise that included a suspension of alcohol permits for two weeks and a $5,000 fine. La Res was allowed to begin serving alcohol again the morning of January 1, 2016.

The original compromise for He’s Not Here included voluntarily surrendering all alcohol permits. The business owners initially refused, which meant the case would be heard before an administrative law judge. If the judge ruled against He’s Not Here, the permits would be stripped and the owners would not be allowed to apply for new permits for three years, according to ABC officials.

The new offer in compromise includes three pending violations. The offer calls for a $5,000 fine, the maximum the commission can impose, in all three cases. The offer also includes a minimum 21-day suspension for all alcohol permits at He’s Not Here. The new offer in compromise, if ratified, would alleviate the need for the case to be heard by the administrative law judge.

The newly-configured compilation of offers in compromise for He’s Not Here will be heard by the ABC Commission at its monthly meeting in Raleigh on Wednesday. The board surprisingly rejected the original offer in compromise with La Res in October before agreeing to new terms in November.

Kania, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear in Orange County court on Tuesday facing charges, including three counts of second-degree murder, in connection with the wrong-way crash. Kania has been recovering from injuries sustained in the crash at his parents’ home in Asheboro since posting a $1 million bail.