{"id":23049,"date":"2020-05-24T09:52:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-24T15:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=64746"},"modified":"2020-05-24T09:52:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-24T15:52:32","slug":"breckenridge-liquor-store-clerks-cited-for-selling-to-lindsey-ward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/breckenridge-liquor-store-clerks-cited-for-selling-to-lindsey-ward\/","title":{"rendered":"Breckenridge liquor store clerks cited for selling to Lindsey Ward"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/05\/Ward-SDN-052220-1-1024x683-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/05\/Ward-SDN-052220-1-1024x683-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/05\/Ward-SDN-052220-1-1024x683-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/05\/Ward-SDN-052220-1-1024x683-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>A May 20, sign on the sliding glass doors of the Breckenridge Market and Liquor store on South Ridge Street notes that visibly intoxicated patrons will be denied service.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 Two liquor store employees have been charged with selling alcohol to Lindsey Ward while she was allegedly visibly impaired, minutes before she caused&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/2-people-killed-friday-in-head-on-crash-near-blue-river\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a fatal crash on Colorado Highway 9<\/a>&nbsp;while driving drunk last year.<\/p>\n<p>Avran Lefeber, 37, and Cody Moral, 25, have been charged with selling alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, after a witness told investigators that the men acknowledged that Ward was inebriated, offered to drive her home and still sold her alcohol when she refused.<\/p>\n<p>At about 5:15 p.m. on Aug. 30 last year, Ward was involved in a two-vehicle car crash on Highway 9 north of Blue River after swerving into the wrong lane and into another car,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/victims-of-colorado-highway-9-crash-identified-as-summit-county-residents-ben-mitton-niki-gough\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">killing 41-year-old Benjamin Mitton and 43-year-old Nichole Gough<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Toxicology reports from the Colorado State Patrol showed that Ward\u2019s blood alcohol level was well above the legal limit of 0.08 at the time of the crash, testing at 0.242 blood alcohol content almost two hours after the incident.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row shn-donation shn-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/02\/shn-logo-2x-wht.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/02\/shn-logo-2x-wht.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In April, Ward&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/breckenridge-woman-pleads-guilty-to-vehicular-homicide-in-fatal-highway-9-crash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pleaded guilty to two counts of felony vehicular homicide-DUI<\/a>. Though, an investigation launched late last year by the Colorado Department of Revenue\u2019s Liquor Enforcement Division is providing new insights into the string of events leading up to the crash.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, Ward was hanging out at the Breckenridge Golf Course clubhouse restaurant earlier that day, where video surveillance showed that she had several drinks between 2:20 and 4:45 p.m. Investigators noted that there wasn\u2019t any evidence that Ward was overly-intoxicated in the footage, and golf course employees said she didn\u2019t exhibit any signs of drunkenness in subsequent interviews.<\/p>\n<p>Ward left the golf course and drove to Breckenridge Market &amp; Liquor, arriving about 15 minutes later at 5:04 p.m., based on surveillance footage. According to the report, she had a \u201cslight stagger\u201d as she walked into the store, and exhibited signs of intoxication until she left.<\/p>\n<p>Ward came to the counter where Lefeber and Moral were working to buy a 12-pack of beer and a bottle of tequila. According to the report, Ward was having trouble counting out her cash, and \u201cfumbled\u201d some of the bills onto the counter. One of the clerks took the cash from her hand, counted it out for her and returned change.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A witness who was in line behind Ward at the store said the men appeared to know her, and referred to her by her first name. The witness also told investigators that Ward was slurring her words, and felt that Lefeber and Moral knew she was inebriated, and repeatedly asked her to park her car so they could give her a ride home. Ward declined, and left with the alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>The witness finished her purchase, and ended up on the road behind Ward, noting that she was weaving all over the road before the crash. The liquor Ward purchased from the store was discovered unopened after the crash.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Revenue investigation also included notes from Lefeber and Moral based on the Colorado State Patrol\u2019s report of the incident. Moral told investigators that Ward didn\u2019t look \u201cplastered,\u201d but that he could tell she had been drinking. He also said Ward wasn\u2019t slurring her words or stumbling at the time of the purchase.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, investigators believed there was probable cause to show that Ward was visibly over intoxicated when the men served her. Lefeber and Moral were charged with misdemeanors as a result of the allegation. Both are scheduled to appear for hearings in Summit County court on June 10.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLiquor stores are regulated businesses, and they sell a product which if not handled appropriately could be dangerous,\u201d District Attorney Bruce Brown said. \u201cIf you sell liquor to an obviously intoxicated person it\u2019s predictable that person could harm themselves or others. That\u2019s the purpose of the prosecution, holding accountable the people who don\u2019t follow the rules of a highly regulated business and deterring others from ignoring the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t enforce the regulatory laws on liquor stores then 16-year-old kids or obviously intoxicated people can walk into a store and buy without any sense of repercussion. \u2026 In this case it wasn\u2019t speculative harm. People died. And because of the fact that there was a witness who was aware of the accident and the shady transaction, this is going to be treated seriously by our office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of note, investigators determined there wasn\u2019t enough evidence to suggest the golf course restaurant served Ward while she was visibly intoxicated. Similarly, Brown said investigators also looked into the broader conduct of Breckenridge Market &amp; Liquor to determine if the store was \u201cturning a blind eye,\u201d but that there wasn\u2019t sufficient evidence to conclude the store was facilitating the clerks\u2019 alleged behavior.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/breckenridge-liquor-store-clerks-cited-for-selling-to-lindsey-ward\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A May 20, sign on the sliding glass doors of the Breckenridge Market and Liquor store on South Ridge Street notes that visibly intoxicated patrons will be denied service.Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 Two liquor store employees have been charged with selling alcohol to Lindsey Ward while she was allegedly visibly impaired, minutes before [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 10:34:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}