Police: Modesto Beer Festival On Groupon Being Investigated As Scam
MODESTO (CBS13) — A large beer and food festival says it's coming to Downtown Modesto this weekend, but the city says it knows nothing about it.
The Modesto Beer and Bites Festival sold more than 100 tickets on Groupon and other websites, but nothing has been filed with the city, and the address listed points to a small park.
But the website promises the biggest beer festival ever with more than 250 brews. How they pull it off is a mystery, especially to the city's parks and recreation department manager.
"Yeah, we had no clue about it," said Andy Johnson.
His department found out about the event through an online promotion.
"We had a staff member get a personal email on her phone about a Groupon," he said.
Groupon has sold more than 100 tickets for $40, but Johnson says nobody from Modesto Beer and Bites has contacted the city.
"The application consists of business licensing, you need to get the fire department stuff taken care of, we need a map of what it looks like. The streets have to be closed, you need a safety plan. If you're serving alcohol, you need an ABC license," he said.
An event permit typically takes 45 days.
Modesto Police say if the event shows up on Saturday, they will shut it down and issue citations.
But other details about the event don't add up, like water skiing demonstrations in a downtown with no water, and multiple phone numbers and email addresses that don't work.
Police are investigating it as a scam.
"Whatever receipt they have, credit card statement that they purchased this ticket, bring it and file a police report," said spokeswoman Heather Graves.
Groupon's marketing team says it's offering refunds to anyone who's purchased a ticket to this Beer and Bites event.
The event's site also promises a portion of the proceeds would go to the United Way, but the nonprofit told Modesto city staff that it never heard from the event organizer.