LR bar faces $500 fine, no suspension after admitting McFadden

A piano bar that admitted Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden even though he was under age will face a $500 fine, state regulators said Tuesday.

The decision came after employees from Ernie Biggs told investigators they let the 20-year-old running back inside the River Market nightclub early Jan. 10 knowing he was under age, said Michael Langley, director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency. Langley said as long as the bar has no other violations in the next year, it will not have its license suspended.

"They came forward and admitted, 'Hey, we did this. We know we did this,"' Langley said. "For that willingness to admit fault, we gave the maximum fine we could and we're not going to suspend their permit."

The Alcoholic Beverage Control board will vote formally on the settlement March 19.

The negotiated settlement came as the nightclub faced a hearing Tuesday over allowing McFadden in and a later altercation involving the NFL-bound athlete. As a private club that did not sell food, state law forbids the piano bar to allow minors inside.

McFadden, who holds the Arkansas Razorbacks' career and single-season rushing records, announced his intention to enter the NFL draft shortly after the January incident at the bar.

Little Rock police arrived at the bar just after midnight Jan. 10 when a fight broke out. A police report noted that a bouncer suffered a hit to the face while trying to get a group - including McFadden - to leave. The report did not say who hit the bouncer.

Outside the club, a police officer handcuffed McFadden "because he was agitated and was provoking aggressive behavior inciting the incident," according to the police report. McFadden, the only person handcuffed, was released after he calmed down.

No one was arrested after the fight. Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley said Tuesday his office had not received any report from the police about the fight, nor had any citizen come forward to press charges.

"We haven't gotten anything," Jegley said. "The police didn't make any arrests on the scene, so we wouldn't have gotten anything else from them."

Little Rock police Lt. Terry Hastings said his department no longer had any involvement in the case. He said it would be up to the bar employee to file a complaint.

"We're no longer looking into it," Hastings said. "It's a misdemeanor case and it's up to him."

Brant Hankins, the bar employee hit in the scuffle, did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.

McFadden severely injured his toe after another fight outside a different Little Rock club during the summer of 2006.

The NFL draft is scheduled for April 26-27.