YOUNGSTOWN — A misdemeanor charge of underage consumption filed against a bartender at the Circle Hookah and Bar, 116 W. Federal St. downtown, was dismissed during a recent hearing in Youngstown Municipal Court after a review of the evidence raised questions about whether she would have been found guilty, a Youngstown city prosecutor said.

James Vivo, Youngstown assistant prosecutor, said the evidence involved a man who was served alcohol, but there were two bartenders working at the time, and the police officers did not find the offense using an undercover operation like they do sometimes when they are directly involved in the transaction.

Instead, an officer observed a 19-year-old man in the bar early April 26 who the officer knew to be underage. Officers saw him entering without his ID being checked, a Youngstown police report states. He was served a mixed drink, according to the report.

The man did not have or use a fake ID but admitted to drinking in the bar, the report states. The officer then spoke with the owner of the bar and asked to speak with “his bartender,” which the officer did.

The bartender, Mikayla McCarthy, 21, said she did not serve anyone she thought looked under age, but it was the bouncers who normally check IDs. The officers cited McCarthy for a first-degree misdemeanor offense involving underage sales of alcohol.

Vivo said the bartender argued that it was someone else who served the customer, and Vivo felt there was a likelihood that the defendant could be found not guilty, so the charge was dismissed at her pretrial hearing.

McCarthy emailed the newspaper last week, saying her case was “dismissed, and the wrong bartender was cited.”