OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Chad McMahon has been able to build a very successful bar business in the Omaha metro area. He owns three bars called The Good Life, along with a lounge.
He plans on opening another bar in Gretna soon.
But The Good Life bar, on 180th and Pacific, has been in the spotlight due to an incident on Christmas night in which six minors drank — one later got into a serious crash.
The City of Omaha said video evidence from that night has been deleted and it plans to charge McMahon with obstruction.
The city council is still considering pulling McMahon’s liquor license for that location. The bar does not deny that six minors drank on Christmas night.
3 News Now has spoken with ten former employees, who said it occurred more than one night.
"We’re not ID experts, is what (Chad McMahon) would say,” said Madi Riggle.
Madi Riggle worked at the Good Life Bar on 180th and Pacific for around six months.
She and one of her managers dispute how she left. But Riggle said she later tried to get her job back because money from the bustling bar was better than anything else she could find.
“I did ask for my job back because I was at a point where I literally like, I had no money and I hadn’t had a job. And I thought that was the only place I could make money like that,” said Riggle.
She told 3 News Now that her concerns about likely underage people drinking at The Good Life were disregarded by management.
“I would always say, 'What happens if they do get in an accident or anything?' and we would always say that if they show us an ID, we can’t get in trouble for it,” said Riggle.
3 News Now spoke with nine former employees at the Good Life on 180th and Pacific — some who left on bad terms, some who left on good terms.
All of them said minors would use fake IDs to drink there.
We were given access to a Snapchat video, which appears to show a woman, who is also a former employee, drinking a shot of alcohol at The Good Life bar in Elkhorn. The time stamp on it shows June 5th, 2018, a month and a half before her 21st birthday.
Similar accusations were made at Tuesday's city council meeting, during which four bar supervisors told the council the bar is diligent about checking IDs.
“If I ever had an ID that looked kind of suspicious and I wasn’t sure, I grabbed a manager and they came to the table and we ID'd everyone at the table,” said Alex Neuman, head supervisor at one of the locations.
“Serving minors is not something that ever benefits any of us, nor anything...as a mom of teenagers...that I would want to run a business that has any part of doing,” said Molly Reineke, a manager at The Good Life.
Members of the Omaha City Council said Tuesday, they plan on holding a formal hearing down the road on whether McMahon will lose his liquor license for the 180th and Pacific location, which could affect his licenses at the other metro area bars he owns.
In the end, the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission has the final say.
