The majority owner of Campustown bar Cy’s Roost, 121 Welch Ave., was arrested and charged with violating state liquor regulations late Tuesday night after a two-month undercover investigation by Iowa State’s Department of Public Safety.

Cy’s Roost owner Patrick Greene, 37, 51083 Dartmoor Road, turned himself into DPS authorities Tuesday night after being charged with three counts each of bootlegging and supplying alcohol to underage people, said DPS Associate Director Jerry Stewart.

Greene was released on his own recognizance, Stewart said, with a promise to appear Dec. 13 at the Story County Courthouse in Nevada for his initial court appearance.

Stewart said the charges against Greene, who is 70 percent owner of Cy’s Roost, stem from the bar-sponsored tailgate parties that were held during ISU home football games at Jack Trice Stadium all season.

The investigation began Oct. 4 when DPS officers noticed a flyer in the window at Cy’s Roost urging patrons to “Tailgate the Cy’s Roost way,” at Jack Trice before home football games. The flyer noted that tickets must be bought beforehand at the bar and could be redeemed in parking Lot S1 for food and “tasty drinks.”

According to court documents, Greene violated his liquor license by selling alcohol at Jack Trice Stadium during home football games without applying for an extension of his license.

Court documents also show Greene was charged with not taking “reasonable age-determining controls” when Cy’s Roost employees sold the tailgate tickets at the bar or when giving alcohol to ticketholders in the stadium lot.

Greene said Wednesday he had no comment about the charges because he and his lawyer had not had time to review the case, and he is still “sorting things out.”

Greene did confirm the tailgate parties were held during the football season and that this was the first year Cy’s Roost sponsored tailgating festivities.

He also noted Cy’s Roost is still open, and he has no plans to shut it down.

Stewart said DPS officers were immediately suspicious of the tailgate parties when they saw the flyer in early October.

“What appeared odd to us was that one could purchase tickets at the bar and later redeem them for food and beverages,” he said. “If the beverage consisted of alcohol, that appeared to be a probable violation of the state-issued liquor license, since no extension had been filed and approved.”

Greene was aware of the necessity of filing an extension, Stewart said. He had applied for them on several occasions to construct a “beer garden” adjacent to Cy’s Roost.

Court documents show that during the investigation, underage DPS employees were sold tickets to the tailgate party at the bar. On Oct. 28, an 18-year-old male bought a ticket at Cy’s Roost without identification and then was issued a wristband at the tailgate party on Oct. 30 without being carded and was served beer.

In an earlier check, two DPS officials were able to purchase four tickets at the bar on Oct. 20, which Stewart said indicated a lack of age-determining control. The tickets then were given to a 20-year-old female and a 17-year-old male, both of whom were able to obtain wristbands and beer at an Oct. 23 tailgate.

Stewart also said the way in which the money used to purchase the tickets was collected at the bar was unusual. Court records show that on all occasions tickets were bought at Cy’s Roost by undercover DPS operatives, the cash for the $10 tickets was placed in a bank-style money bag located under the bar — not in the normal business cash register.

After the October undercover operations, DPS officers, in conjunction with the Ames Police Department and the Story County Sheriff’s Office, executed search warrants at Cy’s Roost and its tailgate party in Lot S1 during a Nov. 13 home game against Oklahoma, Stewart said. Officers seized two vehicles, cash, tickets, wristbands and alcohol containers.

Greene now faces possible fines and incarceration. Bootlegging is a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of $1,000. A conviction for supplying alcohol to minors can carry a fine up to $1,500.

Assistant City Attorney Judy Parks said Greene also might be subject to civil fines processed through the state alcoholic beverages department that are separate from the criminal charges already brought against him.

“Parallel proceedings can be brought against the business,” Parks said. “We will have to see what’s been alleged criminally. We would potentially look at the same type of violations.”

Parks said supplying alcohol to minors can bring a $500 civil fine imposed by a state administrative board. A second conviction within two years holds a 30-day suspension of the liquor license and a $1,500 fine.

But Parks said she was not sure how the state board would handle the bootlegging charges. She said a charge for bootlegging against a business holding a liquor license is very rare.

“We haven’t had a bootlegging charge for a long time,” she said. “I don’t have a sense of what the state would be considering.”

Stewart agreed with Parks as to the peculiar nature of this case.

“This seems to be a very unique situation,” he said.