State Liquor Commission officers arrest a Dartmouth student at Han Fusion

On Sept. 27, New Hampshire Liquor Commission officers arrested a member of the Class of 2027 at Han Fusion — a Chinese, Japanese and Thai fusion restaurant in downtown Hanover — after he presented them with a fake ID.

Two Liquor Commission officers entered the restaurant around 9:30 p.m. and began checking the IDs of restaurant patrons whose ages appeared “questionable,” according to Tom Liang, owner of Han Fusion. Officers handcuffed a student – who was in a group of “seven or eight people” being served alcohol – and took him out of the restaurant, Liang said. Officials later told Liang that the student had presented them with a fake ID, he said.

“I don’t believe [the officers saw] He actually drank alcohol because they asked me if there was a camera that could… show the time period [the group was there]Liang said.

According to Liang, the waiter in charge of the group – who was recently hired – did not check the group’s IDs before serving the table alcohol. Liang said he told officers that the waiter – who was instructed to check his identification before serving alcohol – was “undertrained.”

“It was actually his third day,” Liang said. “He actually has to be careful [to] not just check [IDs, but also] 100 million other things we threw at him.”

The server declined to comment.

Liang said Han Fusion’s liquor license has not been revoked, but he expects to be fined for the incident. He added that prior to this incident, Liquor Commission officers had never entered one of his restaurants and checked IDs in his “nearly 30 years” in the restaurant business.

According to New Hampshire’s alcoholic beverage laws, a person who possesses a fake ID can be found guilty of a misdemeanor.

Hanover police were not involved in the arrest, Lt. Michael Schibuola wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth. However, the department “occasionally contacts the Liquor Commission when issues arise,” including when the department “receives information that a business is not properly verifying IDs for the sale of alcohol,” Schibuola wrote.

Students have had inconsistent carding experiences at Han Fusion. A member of the Class of 2025, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about her experience, said Han Fusion had previously failed to verify her ID. The student, who was not present the night of the arrest, said her ID was not checked when her group ordered one Scorpion shell — an alcoholic drink served in a large ceramic sharing bowl — last winter, when she was underage. She added that the server checked the IDs of “some people” in her group, but not hers.

However, Han Fusion patron James Quirk ’25 — who was not present the night of the arrest — said his ID was checked “every time” he purchased alcoholic beverages at the restaurant. He added that he found servers “responsible” for checking the IDs of all members of a group who do not “clearly” look older than 21.

“I remember being with a friend who was trying to get away without it [his ID and] said he left his ID at home,” Quirk said. “[The server] said, “I’m sorry, but [I] I can’t help you.’”

The arrested member of the Class of 2027 declined to comment.

James Quirk ’25 is a former news writer for The Dartmouth. He was not involved in the writing or production of this article.