In recent years, Main Street Sports Bar & Grill has been the frequent scene of assaults, brawls, and drunken encounters.
Last week was no different. Plymouth police swarmed the bar after a customer who was kicked out returned brandishing a knife and threatening to stab the bouncer who banished him, police say.
The bar this week also got a boost from state alcohol regulators, who declined to issue a violation against the business for allegedly serving a drunk patron last year, as requested by state investigators.
But on July 12, Plymouth police officers on foot patrol responded to the 39 Main St. address when a bouncer called for help from a second story window.
“People were yelling ‘knife. He has a knife,’” according to the police report.
By the time police arrived, several customers had surrounded the suspect, identified as Aaron Farrar, 27, of Taunton. One of them was stabbed in the hand as he tried to wrestle the knife from Farrar, police said.
The bouncer told police he had kicked Farrar out of the bar 10 minutes earlier. Farrar returned and pulled a knife on him, the police report said.
Video surveillance footage captured much of the incident, wrote police, who charged Farrar with multiple crimes including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, and witness intimidation.
Farrar pleaded not guilty on July 14 and was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for July 17.
He was already facing charges in a separate case out of Brockton District Court after being arrested by State Police on March 21 for allegedly carrying a loaded firearm without a license. When he was arrested by them, he also had a double-edged knife hanging from a chain around his neck, the police report said.
His lawyer, Charlotte Tilden, declined comment except to say that “the allegations are only that —allegations— and Mr. Farrar is entitled to the presumption of innocence.”
“The facts will be laid out through the court proceedings and, until that time, I am not in a position to comment on these accusations,” she said.
Main Street Sports Bar and Grill owner Phil Corbo said that “thankfully” the bar’s security team handled the situation.
“The first responders on the scene were amazing as always and appreciated the way our staff dealt with the situation,” he said.
Earlier in the week, the bar learned that state alcohol regulators declined to issue a violation against the business for allegedly serving a drunk patron last year, as requested by state investigators.
In its July 9 decision, the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission ruled that ABCC investigators were wrong when they charged the bar with serving a male customer who was “exhibiting signs of intoxication.”
The decision came a year after a June 2024 commission hearing where the investigators, who made a surprise visit to the bar on March 1, 2024, reported witnessing an “unidentified male individual to have glassy eyes with a dazed look, to be speaking with slurred speech and leaning on his friends who were seated at the bar.”
After watching him for nearly an hour, investigators said, they saw him walk up to the bar where he was served a vodka seltzer and a shot of clear liquor, according to their report.
In its decision, the ABCC wrote that to find a violation, the commission had to find “substantial evidence” that “the patron in question was exhibiting outward signs of intoxication by the time he was served his last alcoholic drink.”
“Direct evidence was presented through the testimony of the bartender and general manager who refuted the investigators’ allegation,” the ruling said.
Had the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission issued a violation, the bar may have had to close temporarily. Even closing for a day or two could have cost the owner thousands of dollars in lost business.
“We were confident in the favorable decision from the ABCC based on the facts and circumstances,” Corbo said in an emailed statement.
Though not found in violation of state liquor laws over the March 2024 incident, Main Street Sports Bar & Grill had been previously cited by the ABCC.
The bar had its license suspended for two days in 2022, after being accused of the same violation — overserving a customer. In 2017, it was cited by ABCC for overcrowding, and had its license suspended for three days, though Corbo didn’t own the business at the time.
Plymouth Police were called to Main Street Sports Bar & Grill more than 150 times between January 2020 and May 2024, according to police call logs.
It’s not the only business district bar that has been accused of violating state liquor laws.
Proof 22 is awaiting hearings on two alleged violations including charges it served 20-year-old Benjamin Ruley, of Plymouth, for several hours before he died after crashing his car in October 2024.
His family has filed a $1 million lawsuit in Plymouth Superior Court against Proof 22 and Tavern on the Wharf, where Ruley had been drinking earlier in the evening. Both businesses are under the same ownership.
Ruley’s family says bartenders served the underaged man for hours without requesting an ID.
Lawyers for Proof 22 and Tavern on the Wharf could not be reached for comment.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.