Mas drama? The owner and chef of Belmont tapas spot Mas, Tomas Rahal, has been charged with three misdemeanors following a traffic accident last Friday, October 15: driving while intoxicated, failure to stop for an accident and refusal to submit to a breath test.
According to the police report, around 12:30am on October 15, Sgt. Robert Haney was traveling north and Rahal was traveling south on Fifth Street NW when Rahal sideswiped the police vehicle. Rahal, who drives a gold 1990 Volvo station wagon, fled the scene but was found shortly after, standing next to the vehicle in an alley.
"When I arrived, I could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person," Haney says in the report. He adds that Rahal "performed very poorly" in field sobriety tests, and was taken into custody.
Rahal declined to comment on the charges, except to say, "This is a personal matter. It has nothing to do with the restaurant."
Updated Friday, October 22 at 2:30pm: An earlier version of this story stated that Rahal’s charges meant he risked losing the restaurant’s license, but Rahal has confirmed his name is not on the license for Mas Tapas.
