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Thirteen clerks accused of selling alcohol to minors

Detectives say that checking 31 stores turns up 13 that broke the law.

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE
Published September 2, 2006

With school back in session, more teens and underage college kids are buying things like books, backpacks and binders. And beer.

So Pinellas County sheriff's detectives recently checked 31 convenience stores and gas stations in the area to see if clerks would sell alcohol to underage "volunteers," said agency spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner.

The checks happened on Aug. 22 and Aug. 31, a Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Though these were school nights, 13 stores in Dunedin, Oldsmar, Largo, Safety Harbor and St. Petersburg sold beer and wine to the volunteers, who were over 18 years old but under 21, Bordner said.

And while the transactions happened, sheriff's detectives watched.

The 13 clerks who allegedly sold the alcohol were then given notices to appear in court. Selling alcohol to anyone under 21 is a second-degree misdemeanor.

By the way, the volunteers didn't use fake IDs, Bordner said.

"They go in just as they are," he said. "This isn't an entrapment deal.

"We do this type of spot check from time to time," he added. But now, with school and all its weekend parties and sporting events, detectives "thought it was appropriate to make sure that businesses that sell alcohol are abiding by the rules in place."

Sheriff's Sgt. Dale Carnell, the agency's vice unit supervisor, warned that detectives will be doing more checks in the future.

[Last modified September 2, 2006, 06:56:55]