Agency Looking into Sport’s Bar’s Role in Accident

May 03, 2011 9:42 PM By LAURA B. MARTINEZ, The Brownsville Herald The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating whether a local bar and grill sold alcohol to an underage woman involved in a fatal accident. Crissy Nichole Guerra, 18, of Brownsville, admitted that she had been drinking prior to the one-vehicle accident on Saturday morning that caused the death of Roxana Viridiana Sais, 20, of Harlingen. Police said the women had come from the Upside Down Sports Bar & Grill, at 568 Springmart, where they had reportedly been drinking. Sais was a student at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, officials said. Mario Villarreal, a supervisor with the TABC office in McAllen, said authorities are looking into the incident and are taking statements from witnesses to see if there is evidence that indicates the bar sold alcohol to the underage drinkers. Texas law prohibits the sale of alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. The agency will also review the toxicology reports on Guerra and Sais, once the reports become available, Villarreal said. Villarreal said the Upside Down Sports Bar & Grill had been investigated in 2010 after two complaints had been received that the bar had sold alcohol to minors. Both allegations were found to be unsubstantiated, he said. Should the current investigation reveal that someone at the bar sold alcohol to the women, there is a possibility that the establishment could lose its liquor license, Villarreal said, calling that the worst-case scenario. The accident happened at 2:22 a.m. Saturday, at the 100 block of Ruben Torres Boulevard, also known as FM 802 Police said Guerra was driving a 2009 Ford Focus west when she lost control of the car. The vehicle struck a metal railroad crossing post. Sais, a passenger in the front seat, was first taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Brownsville but later flown to University Hospital in San Antonio, where she died. Guerra had also been taken to VBMC, where she was treated for a broken pelvis. She was arraigned on a count of manslaughter and intoxication assault. Bail was set at $100,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, she remained incarcerated at an area jail. A third woman, Michelle Barras, 20, of Rio Grande City, was treated for a fractured left arm. She was a backseat passenger.