ENCINITAS — Authorities have revealed the results of a sting operation aimed at catching retailers selling alcohol to minors and adults buying it for them.
On May 16, San Diego County sheriff’s deputies along with agents from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control had a pair of minors at five retailers attempt to purchase alcohol, according to the sheriff’s department. The locations were in Encinitas and Solana Beach.
According to the department, part of the operation was conducted in front of two liquor stores, where a minor under the supervision of an officer indicated an inability to purchase alcohol and asked an adult to make the transaction.
“One of the locations sold alcohol to a minor decoy,” the department reported.
Seventeen adults were contacted, two of whom made a purchase on behalf of the minor, per the department. The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.
One adult apparently drove to a location impaired and was later arrested for allegedly driving under the influence, according to the department.
The ABC conducts compliance checks statewide to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. Statistics have shown that people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the general adult population.
In July 2023, the sheriff’s department received a $75,000 Alcohol Policing Partnership grant. The funds were spent on the communities patrolled by deputies to reduce alcohol-related crimes and to educate ABC licensed businesses, according to the department.
Authorities urged anyone with information on licensed liquor establishments providing alcohol to minors to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580- 8477.
