Austin restaurant’s food license revoked after drug bust
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(ABC 6 News) -An Austin restaurant is closed tonight after the city council voted to revoke its food license.
This comes after Austin Police found 50 grams of cocaine inside the restaurant “Wing Bazaar”, some of which, they say, may have been laced with fentanyl.
Police arrested 39-year-old Terry Heggs, who helped run the restaurant. He’s facing a charge of 1st-degree drug possession.
The owner of Wing Bazaar Quinten Amos said he and Terry Heggs go back a long way and had no idea this was happening in his restaurant.
“I knew him from the past, he was like a family member to me. We almost grew up together,” said Amos.
Amos was woken up by a call that police cars were surrounding the restaurant. He said, “they found drugs, he was arrested, and I wasn’t here. I don’t know the whole story.
Heggs has a criminal history, and Amos wanted to give him a second chance to turn his life around, so they opened up Wing Bazaar last summer. But now, Amos is unable to do business without a license.
RELATED: City council revokes restaurant’s food license following drug bust
City council member Jason Baskin says the council had to revoke the license because Wing Bazar put the community in jeopardy.
“When you talk about an establishment that not only has questionable food safety concerns, but food safety concerns mixed with illegal drugs that becomes a major issue,” said Baskin.
Amos says he often received great feedback from customers about Wing Bazaar.
Councilman Baskin says that losing a small business in town is tough, but public safety is a top priority.
“During the meeting last night, we heard compelling evidence from the chief of police about what was found during that search and some of the food safety contamination concerns. And it was ultimately an easy decision as a council to take decisive action and ultimately deny the food license,” said Baskin.
Amos says this isn’t what his business is all about, “I just want to say I’m sorry to the community. One bad act ain’t the reflection of the whole Wing Bazaar.”