Lauren Cusimano
Audio By Carbonatix
A Tempe college bar has filed a lawsuit against city and state officials in federal court. The complaint, filed by Tempe Tavern on Monday, alleges that the city of Tempe, its police chief, a fellow officer and state liquor license enforcement officials have conspired to take down the bar, which advertises itself on Instagram as “Home of the Baby Dick Shot.”
The lawsuit was entered into federal court by Tempe Tavern 1810, LLC, and claimed the owner’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights have been violated during and in the aftermath of a series of high-profile raids at the bar that drew headlines and scrutiny.
Tempe Tavern sits in a cobblestone-walled building at the northeast corner of McClintock Road and Apache Boulevard, near Arizona State University’s campus. The tavern opened in 2011, continuing a long tenure of watering holes operating from the historic building called the White Dairy Barn.
After two 2025 raids, which officials say targeted underage drinking, the bar’s business has “diminished significantly,” the lawsuit said.
City and state officials have “engaged in a pattern of selective enforcement,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit names the city of Tempe, its Police Chief Kenneth McCoy and Lt. Erik Hernandez, as well as Arizona Department of Liquor Licensing and Control Director Ben Henry and Lt. Luis Samudio.
Tempe Tavern’s attorney Timothy La Sota said in an email to Phoenix New Times that the bar is a “scrupulous operator.”
“Nonetheless, the Defendants have targeted my client for extinction,” La Sota wrote. “The false narrative that persists and that is crippling Tempe Tavern is thanks to the smear campaign against them that is outlined in our complaint.”
Tempe Tavern’s gross sales have dropped to “approximately 10% of what they were prior to the 2025 raids,” the suit alleges. Now, the tavern is asking the court for damages for this “economic injury.”
Late Wednesday, the city of Tempe issued a four-paragraph statement rebuking the bar’s claims.
“The notice of claim estimates damages in lost business and ‘reputational harm’ of more than $9 million. The City forcefully rejects this claim as absurd,” the statement read. “The City of Tempe and the Tempe Police Department will continue to stand up for the safety of our community and the young people who live and go to school here.”
Hundreds cited at Tempe Tavern raids
The tavern’s lawsuit notes that a larger police presence began when 10 officers entered the bar on March 22, 2024, and asked patrons to show their IDs.
Just over a year later, police returned with state liquor enforcement officials. During a raid on April 24, 2025, 173 people were arrested. Of those, 165 were underage. They were cited and released, according to a press release issued by the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.
The joint operation stemmed from multiple complaints to Tempe police and in Tempe’s statement to Phoenix New Times, the city reiterated that several members of the community had contacted the police about alleged underage drinking at the bar.
Tempe Tavern pushed back, stating in the lawsuit that “no unlawful alcohol sales were documented,” and that the bar was cited for one ID violation — admitting a 21-year-old who had, “in the Department of Liquor Licensing Control’s judgment, an unacceptable form of identification.”
On Nov. 20, officers returned to the tavern. During this second joint raid, 249 underage people were found inside Tempe Tavern, per Tempe police. Those at the bar were cited for possessing fake IDs, underage intoxication and providing false information, a police press release said.
The city noted in its statement that the vast majority of underage drinkers caught in the entirety of Tempe were found at the tavern.
“Over a two-year period, Tempe Police arrested and cited 530 underage customers for providing fake IDs or underage drinking at bars citywide. About 420 of those arrests – just under 80 percent – occurred at Tempe Tavern,” the city’s statement said. “This establishment’s actions and continued blatant disregard for the law and public safety speak for themselves.”
At the time, and in the lawsuit, Tempe Tavern said that anyone entering the bar has their ID “checked, scanned and video recorded before the patron is admitted.”
However, the bar was cited and fined by the state 11 times in 2025, according to the liquor license department’s violations search. Those violations included accepting unauthorized IDs, failing to request an ID from an underage buyer and providing an underage person with alcohol, among other infractions.
“These operations are about safety, accountability, and preventing tragedies,” Tempe Police Chief McCoy said in a December news release. “Ensuring compliance protects our community and helps prevent serious incidents. We remain committed to our core values of excellence, professionalism, and compassion.”
Following the raids, Tempe police shared that a 19-year-old driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run in September was at Tempe Tavern before she walked home and got behind the wheel.
That connection has led to calls for the bar to lose its liquor license.
The state liquor license department is currently investigating Tempe Tavern. Its findings will be released soon, Samudio shared via email.
The bar accused city officials and news media of defamatory comments that “ placed Tempe Tavern in a false light,” the lawsuit said, “as if it had anything to do with this tragic death.”
