EXCLUSIVE: Inside police crackdown on illegal alcohol sales to minors
Saturday in Cathedral City, undercover police and agents from the state department of Alcoholic Beverage Control executed a “Shoulder Tap” decoy operation to crack down on people buying alcohol for minors.
The operation employed the help of a 19-year-old decoy to state her age and ask customers approaching licensed alcohol distributors to buy beer for her.
“We’re not really trying to set anybody up — we are giving everybody the opportunity to do the right thing,” said an undercover agent with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. “Hopefully everybody says no, we don’t really want anybody to actually commit a crime.”
News Channel 3’s Jake Ingrassia went along for the ride on the undercover operation, and our cameras were rolling as one man took the bait and was arrested.
First, the man is seen engaging with the decoy girl. He didn’t exchange any money but disappeared into the store. In a few minutes, he returned, carefully placing a can of beer in a brown paper bag for the girl to retrieve. Police then moved in, arresting the man on the spot.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people are willing to do that,” said Sgt. Nick Chapman with Cathedral City Police Department. “It could be your son or daughter out here doing this and parents don’t want that to occur. … This is a good reminder to people that this is not legal, the man that just did this right now is under arrest – and you will be arrested and prosecuted if you buy alcohol for minors.”
Police say 1 in 10 people will agree to furnish alcohol to a minor. They say this is a way to cut down on underage DUI’s and other alcohol-related crimes.
The team struck 6 businesses licensed to sell alcohol in Cathedral City Saturday. Of the 14 people the decoy made contact with, two people were cited in all. Fines can range up to $1,000.
“Think twice before you do anything like this because we’re watching, you never know when we’re gonna swoop in on you,” Sgt. Chapman said.
You can reach Jake on Twitter, Facebook or email him at jake.ingrassia@kesq.com.
