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Lowell police ask license commission to hold complaints hearing over alleged alcohol-regulation violations at Tesco Center
Summary
Lowell Police Superintendent Gregory Hooden requested a May 7 complaints hearing alleging that Vacante Entertainment Group (Tesco Center) failed to comply with Lowell License Commission regulations 1.16, 1.20 and 2.16; the commission scheduled the hearing and moved it forward on a unanimous vote.
Lowell Police Superintendent Gregory Hooden submitted a communication asking the Lowell License Commission to hold a complaints hearing on May 7, 2026, concerning alleged misconduct by Vacante Entertainment Group Incorporated, which does business as the Tesco Center at 70–72 Middlesex Street.
The communication, read during the commission’s April 23 meeting, alleges the venue failed to comply with Lowell License Commission regulations 1.16, 1.20 and 2.16. The superintendent requested a formal complaints hearing; the commission moved and approved the request (motion by Commissioner Mercier, seconded by Commissioner Underwood).
Chair Donahue confirmed the complaint and the scheduling for May 7 but the communication itself was presented as an administrative filing rather than a sworn, on-the-record statement in open testimony. The meeting record includes the commission’s action to set the complaints hearing; no members of the public spoke for or against the request at the April 23 meeting.
The filing names the licensee as Vacante Entertainment Group Inc., operating as Tesco Center, and identifies Ernesto Lugo as the listed license manager for the premises. The communication asked the commission to consider alleged violations of the named license rules; the transcript does not include specific factual details from the police about individual incidents beyond the reference to the regulation numbers.
The commission scheduled the complaints hearing for May 7, 2026. The commission’s motion to schedule the hearing was moved by Commissioner Mercier and seconded by Commissioner Underwood and carried by voice vote with the three commissioners present voting in favor. The commission did not resolve the allegations at the April 23 meeting; the May 7 hearing will be the forum for complaint presentation, any response from the licensee and potential disciplinary or remedial action.
Next steps: the commission’s docket will show the formal complaint filing and any response from Vacante Entertainment Group or its manager ahead of the May 7 complaints hearing.
