El Meson owner says officer Fields lied about after-hours gambling, stripping at restaurant

Tony Ruiz, owner of El Meson Restaurante in Hixson, said Tuesday that allegations that the restaurant has a clandestine gambling and strip club after hours are untrue.

"I'm just totally shocked by these allegations," Ruiz said. "We would never participate or be involved in something like that."

The allegations arose in the court case involving Chattanooga police officer Karl Fields, who allegedly had inappropriate sexual contact with a rape victim whose case he was handling. The two met at El Meson on June 25 for food and mixed drinks. There, the victim said, Fields confessed sexual attraction to her.

On Sept. 23, the rape victim told TBI that Fields had bragged to her about how he served as the "eyes and ears" that helped El Meson continue the illegal operations.

Ruiz said although Fields has been to the restaurant several times, he is only a customer to them.

"He's our customer," Ruiz said. "I don't know why he would say something like that."

Ruiz added that the Alcoholic Beverage Commission came to the restaurant Tuesday as a result of the allegations, but found everything to be in order. He said they expressed surprise at the claims.

"We've never had any problems in the 21 years we've been open," Ruiz said.

photo Tony Ruiz, co-owner of El Meson, stands at the company's newest restaurant location in the Northgate Mall shopping complex in Hixson.

A spokesperson for the Alcoholic Beverage Commission in Chattanooga said in a phone call that representatives from the Nashville office visited the facility in response to the victim's allegations about the restaurant. The local office referred questions to Nashville, where ABC attorney Joshua Stepp said he didn't know anything about the incident or the visit by ABC agents.

Kyle Miller, communications coordinator for the Chattanooga Police Department, said the restaurant has no violations with the Chattanooga Beer Board.

Ruiz said his entire family works at the restaurant, and he wants customers to know the restaurant has always been and will continue to be family friendly.

"We want them to know that they can come to our place and not worry about any of those things," Ruiz said.

Contact staff writer Hannah Smith at hsmith@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.

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