Christmas-night brawl costs Dorchester bar its license for three days

The Boston Licensing Board suspended Ups n' Downs liquor license for three days because of a massive brawl at closing time that required every police officer in District C-11 and left one bar worker smashed in the face with a bottle.

The board also issued suspended seven-day license suspensions for two other outbreaks of violence; if the Neponset Circle bar, officially known as Upstairs Downstairs, gets in any more trouble over the next six months, those suspensions will go into effect.

The board set no specific dates for the suspension; the bar can appeal the punishment to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.

Police and the bartender on duty that night say the Christmas-night battle began when a bar worker tried to keep a patron from going down some stairs. She smashed him the face with a bottle, he countered by punching her in the face, other patrons joined in and everything began spilling into the street - including the night's receipts and several bottles of liquor, which some patrons got away with by jumping the bar during the melee.