CLOSED FOR BUSINESS

Give him points for innovation. Travis Kevie, a California man, recently broke into a shuttered bar, reopened the business and started selling drinks to unassuming customers, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s department. Unfortunately for Kevie, it wasn’t long before his new business went belly-up. The Sheriff’s department arrested the 29-year-old after his 4-day stint as the barkeep of the historic Valencia Club in Penryn, which had been shutdown for more than a year. Detective Jim Hudson became suspicious after reading about the Valencia Club’s re-opening in an auburn journal article that featured a picture of Kevie and identified him as the club’s new “owner/operator”. Who did the fact-checking there? Not only had Detective Hudson had previous run-ins with Kevie, he knew the Valencia Club’s liquor license had been surrendered. When the detective went to the bar to investigate, he found it open for business and customers at the bar. Described as a transient, authorities say Kevie broke into the Valencia Club and put an open sign in the window. To “open” his business, Kevie bough a six-pack of beer and resold it at the club. He used those profits to buy more alcohol keeping the club open throughout the weekend serving about 3O customers a day which is more than some legally operating bars can say. Kevie should consider a career in consulting, not conning.