Police say they caught a clerk at a North Long Beach liquor store selling alcohol to a minor during a recent sting.
As part of an undercover operation, police say they sent an underage decoy into 18 alcohol sellers along Long Beach Boulevard, Artesia Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue, and one on Pacific Coast Highway.
Almost all of the businesses — mostly clustered in North Long Beach and Bixby Knolls — passed the test and refused to sell to the minor, according to the Long Beach Police Department. But a clerk in Party Time Liquor at 6031 Atlantic Avenue sold alcohol to the underage decoy on Sept. 12, LBPD spokesperson Richard Mejia said.
The clerk now faces a minimum fine of $250 and 24 to 32 hours of community service, police said. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control could also seek to fine the store’s owner or suspend its liquor license.
“Businesses should always check IDs before selling alcohol,” ABC Director Joseph McCullough said in a news release. “Preventing access to people not old enough to legally purchase alcohol improves safety on our roadways and in our communities.”
Police said the ABC provided funding for the sting, which has been a tactic used since the 1980s to make sure alcohol sellers are following liquor laws.