Five businesses caught selling alcohol to minors

By Tribune staff
Thursday, Feb 14, 2008 - 11:12:29 am CST

Five of 77 Dodge County businesses that sell liquor, sold to minors during a compliance check performed Friday.

One of the non-compliant businesses, Scribner Express, 205 Railroad St., had its third violation in the past three years.

According to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission’s penalty guidelines, a business faces license cancellation if it has four violations within the four-year look back period of penalty enhancement.

Members of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, Fremont Police Department and Nebraska State Patrol partnered with Project Extra Mile for the collaborative effort. Six minors with an average age of 17 used their own driver’s licenses when going into the alcohol establishments.

The compliance check was paid for through a grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety.

“The majority of non-compliant businesses didn’t ask to see the minor’s identification,” said Chassity Bassett, project coordinator for Project Extra Mile in Dodge County. “Retailers that continue to put young lives at risk by providing alcohol to kids clearly have poor business practices and should be held accountable.”

Still, the non-compliance rate was at about 6.5 percent.

“The non-compliant rate continues to remain steady under 10 percent,” said Sgt. Robert Elliott of the Nebraska State Patrol. “This can be attributed to the commitment law enforcement agencies have made to enforce the underage drinking laws by conducting retailer training and consistent alcohol compliance checks.”

In addition to Scribner Express, four other businesses sold alcohol to minors in Dodge County during Friday’s enforcement. They were:

* Casey’s General Store #2090, 821 S. Broad St. in Fremont.

* Pizza Hut of Fremont, 1781 E. 23rd Ave.

* North Bend Mini Mart, 340 E. Sixth St.

* Shawsky’s, 240 W. Sixth St. in North Bend.

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Lisa H
Feb 14, 2008 9:54 PM
I think it is about time that these people attend victims impact panel so they can see just what can happen when they do not do their job. It would also be a good idea for them all to go to an alcohol/tobacco class so they can learn how to check IDs and actually ask to see them....It doesn't take a genious to figure out whether someone is old enough to purchase. Common sense works wonders..
John
Feb 15, 2008 3:12 AM
I dont get this. The law says any minor that attempts to buy alcohol is guilty of a misdeminor. It does not say anything about being part of a sting. If your not old enough to buy it it is a crime to try. Always has been. Seems to me the police seem to be able to bend the laws at will. This is wrong and I cant beleive the mighty chamber of commerce hasnt done anything about this entrapment.
Rob
Feb 15, 2008 3:51 PM
Actually the law says a minor cannot attempt to purchase alcohol by misrepresenting their age. The store clerks are either not checking ID's or are not doing the math to figure out how old these kids are before they sell them booze.
h
Feb 15, 2008 10:05 PM
Police have people do things like this all the time. Cops go undercover and pretend to be prostitutes, drug dealers and buyers and all sorts of things. They just have to recruit people for this because there are probably no police officers under the age of 21. It is all perfectly legal, and if the sales people were doing their jobs properly, they wouldn't have to worry about it.

And yes, I have worked at a job where I sell tobacco and alcohol for over 10 years, so I do know what I am talking about.
Its about time
Feb 15, 2008 11:37 PM
Im glad to see those places get busted !!! They should all have to go to JAIL plus have to close down shop !!! I am really glad they nailed that Shawsky's place in North Bend,they have been selling to kids for a long time...Chalk one up for the good guys...
Jake
Feb 17, 2008 12:11 PM
wow, do you guys seriously think alchohol is THAT bad of a thing??

you guys sure are putting down the 5 businesses that are in trouble, only 2 of them in our town, but lets not say anything nice about the 72 good ones,
theres a thousand worse things they could be doing besides selling alcohol to a minor,
and oh yeah, these kinds of "stings" do not cut down "minor drinking" one bit, a minor will get alochol weather they go in and buy it themselves or they pay someone like me an extra $10 to go get it for them....