A bartender accused of serving alcohol to an intoxicated man in 2017 before he went on a shooting rampage at a Plano home, killing eight people at a Dallas Cowboys-watching party, has been charged with a misdemeanor.
Lindsey Glass was arrested April 30 and charged with allegedly violating a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code titled "Sale to Certain Persons."
The code states: "A person commits an offense if the person with criminal negligence sells an alcoholic beverage to an habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person."
The charge carries a fine of up to $500, up to a year in jail, or both.
The TABC concluded in a report last year that Glass, a bartender at Local Public House in Plano, violated the code by serving the suspect, 32-year-old Spencer Hight, after he displayed signs of intoxication at the bar.
According to the TABC report, Glass texted another bartender saying Hight was in the bar earlier on the day of the mass shooting and "had 2 gins and he only had 2 beers and a shot when he came back [sic] I think he was at another bar while he was gone."
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Another text from Glass stated, "Spencer has a big knife on the bar and is spinning it and just asked for his tab and said I have to go do some dirty work ... Psychoooooooo."
According to the medical examiner, Spencer Hight had a blood alcohol level four times the state's legal limit when he drove to his estranged wife's home and fatally shot her and seven other people last year. The victims were identified as Meredith Hight; 33-year-old Anthony "Tony" Michael Cross; 24-year-old Olivia Nicole Deffner; 29-year-old James Richard Dunlop; 22-year-old Darryl William Hawkins; 31-year-old Rion Christopher Morgan; 28-year-old Myah Sade Bass and 25-year-old Caleb Seth Edwards.
Spencer Hight was killed by police responding to the shooting call.
Investigators say Glass should have known not to serve Hight. According to an affidavit, an agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission says Glass was trained and certified to identify and avoid the sale of alcohol to intoxicated customers. The affidavit states Glass completed certifications approved by TABC.
The permit for Local Public House located on Spring Creek Parkway was canceled in October. A lawsuit accusing the bar of negligence for serving Hight was filed in 2018.
Glass' attorney Scott Palmer was critical of the charge.
"It is shameful of the Plano Police department to go after the person who was vital in trying to stop the horrific events of that evening," he said in a statement. "This arrest is not in the interest of justice and appears to be a last-ditch effort by the Plano PD to make someone pay.”
The attorney said detectives initially commended Glass and told her that she saved lives.
"Lindsey Glass is the person who called 911," he said. "Not only did she know Spencer but she was friends with Meredith and was supposed to be at the party that evening."
TABC Report
