No indictment of bartender who served man before deadly attack

MCKINNEY, Texas — A grand jury has declined to indict a bartender who served drinks to a man who later went to his estranged wife’s suburban Dallas home and fatally shot her and seven others.

The decision of the Collin County grand jury came late last month in the case against Lindsey Glass, 27. She had been arrested in May and charged with a misdemeanor violation of “sale to certain persons.” The law prohibits the sale of alcohol to a “habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person.”

Authorities said Spencer Hight, 32, already showed signs of intoxication in September 2017 at the Plano bar before leaving for the home of Meredith Hight and opening fire. Responding officers then shot and killed the man. At the time of his death, his blood-alcohol level registered 0.33 percent, more than quadruple the legal limit for driving.

In a statement, attorneys for Glass say the woman is relieved by the decision. They note that security video from the bar indicates Glass was not watching Hight continuously and that some of his odd behavior occurred outside her view. The statement issued by attorneys Scott Palmer and Rebekah Perlstein said that once Glass recognized Hight was intoxicated and behaving strangely, she alerted the manager and the two confronted Hight outside the bar. Glass then followed him and notified police when he reached his estranged wife’s home.

The bar has since closed after surrendering its license to serve alcohol.