Eatery Owner Fined for Barring Disabled Woman

The owner of a North Hollywood restaurant has been sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $2,700 fine after refusing to allow a disabled woman and her service dog into the eatery, authorities said.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Michael Knight sentenced Pogos Echuryan, 44, owner of Tasty Burger, 12525 Vanowen St., after a jury found Echuryan guilty of one misdemeanor count of illegally denying entry to a public place, said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.

Echuryan refused to allow the 44-year-old Lancaster woman into the restaurant with her service dog last January. The woman, a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair, called police.

Police explained to Echuryan that the woman had a right to enter the restaurant with the Rottweiler, but the owner refused to allow both the woman and the dog inside, authorities said.