UPDATED: Report: Fayetteville Hooters to close

A Bayer Properties leasing information sign stands in front of Hooters at 4143 N. Shiloh Drive in Fayetteville.

Staff photo

The Hooters restaurant in north Fayetteville will close Aug. 27, reports the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

According to the report, an unidentified Hooters employee confirmed the news Wednesday morning, and said the closure “has something to do with the lease.”

The news comes two weeks after a customer left the restaurant and was hit by two vehicles while crossing six lanes of traffic on North College Avenue on Aug. 1.

Gilbert Flores, 34, had just left Hooters and was crossing the road when he was struck by a Honda Accord. Flores stood up and was hit by a Ford Econoline van. He was transported by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo. where he died five days later.

From the report:

A source familiar with the case told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal the investigation into Flores’ death will definitely show he was not only drunk, but very drunk, when he left Hooters on Aug. 1.

Arkansas Business‘ Lance Turner said the incident and subsequent closure may sound familiar.

“In 1994, a Little Rock Hooters restaurant at 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road closed after one of two underage men who had been served beer there was killed in a car wreck after leaving the restaurant,” wrote Turner.

According to state law, sanctions can be taken against any holder of an Arkansas alcoholic beverage permit who fails to operate the business “in a manner which is in the public interest, and does not endanger the public health, welfare, or safety.”

Update: KFSM is reporting that the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is investigating Flores’ death, and are waiting on crime lab results to decide whether disciplinary action will be taken against Hooters.