Helena man's disappearance raises questions about responsibility

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It's been a month since East Helena man Darrel Dullum was reported missing after leaving the Eagles bar intoxicated, and his disappearance has raised some difficult questions: Whose responsibility is it to ensure intoxicated people get home safely? And are there adequate services available to people trying to get home after a night of drinking?

Montana law clearly states an establishment is breaking the law if they serve alcohol to an intoxicated person.

East Helena Chief of Police Dale Aschim says he believes there is a serious problem with over serving patrons in many of the local bars. Aschim said, "If they notice somebody is intoxicated they can't continue to serve that person or they are in violation of that order."

The Eagles bar was the last place that people reported seeing Darrel, and assistant manager Michael Young says he cut Darrel off when he realized he was intoxicated.

Young said, "We have 100 to 120 people in here on the weekends, so we can't tell if customers are bringing them drinks; it's hard to cut someone off fully , because we've had such a big crowd, If they come up for a drink we say no cause we've cut them off, but we don't know if other people are getting them drinks, so It's hard."

Young says the bar participates in a program called Alert Cab, where drunk patrons are provided with a free ride home from the local taxi service. But he notes that often the wait for a cab is 30-45 minutes, which patrons are often unwilling to wait for.

Capital Taxi owner Mike Hruska believes Helena provides adequate services in helping people get home after a night of drinking, saying, "We don't have any restrictions on picking up intoxicated passengers, anywhere in the Helena area. Our only restrictions is that they are ambulatory, that they can still walk and they are not sick or vomiting."

For the Dullum family, situations like this bring up many more questions than answers.

Any one with information about Dullum's disappearance is asked to call 447-8293.