Seven clerks cited for selling liquor to decoy

Law enforcement officials say they plan to conduct more raids now because underage drinking surges with high school graduations.

By MARY CARMICHAEL

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 6, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- The Hess Mart convenience store on U.S. 19 in New Port Richey has a "We ID" sticker on the door and "We ID" training videos in a back room. Its employees sign a form every week saying they understand their obligation to card patrons -- or they don't get paid. And just in case there's a problem, employees can check a calendar posted behind the counter to make sure a patron is 21.

On Friday, those precautions weren't enough.

New Port Richey police conducting an undercover sting operation sent a 20-year-old part-time dispatcher into convenience stores around the city on Friday night. By the end of the evening, clerks at seven out of seventeen stores, including the Hess Mart, had sold alcohol to the underaged decoy.

The raid comes on the heels of two similar operations by Pasco County sheriff's deputies. Those raids, conducted May 12 and 26 at stores and restaurants around the county, caught 40 and 45 percent of the businesses they tested -- an unusually high number, said sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers.

Pasco deputies usually catch about 30 percent of their target stores selling alcohol to underaged patrons, Powers said, adding that "if the figures we got are indicative of a trend -- and we hope they're not -- then everybody's got some work to do."

An undercover raid is fairly straightforward. A decoy, usually a young police employee who has volunteered for the job, will enter a store and try to buy either a six-pack of beer or, in rarer cases, a tobacco product. If the decoy is asked for his age, he gives it. If he's asked for a driver's license, he hands it over. But if an employee still sells him alcohol, deputies are waiting outside to return the drinks, take back the money and serve the clerk with a notice to appear in court.

Both Powers and Cpl. Jackie Pehote of New Port Richey, who directed that department's sting, said decoys go out every year in early summer because high school graduations may coincide with a surge of underaged drinking.

And more is in store for local restaurants and convenience marts. Pasco County deputies are planning another raid, and New Port Richey police have visited only half the stops on their list.

"We usually do all the convenience stores," Pehote said. "There were so many this time. We'll go out at a later date and do the other half."

The young dispatcher who made the illegal purchases for the New Port Richey sting said he was glad to help out. Although he wouldn't reveal his name for fear of retribution from his friends, the 20-year-old said he'd do it again.

With his help, New Port Richey police cited clerks at the following businesses in their raid on Friday:

Cumberland Farms, 7529 U.S. 19.

Hogan's Amoco, 6136 Grand Blvd.

Smart Stop, 5463 Grand Blvd.

Hess Mart, 6245 U.S. 19.

Speedway, 5736 U.S. 19.

Bubba's Ale House, 7041 U.S. 19.

Eckerd Drugs, 6507 Massachusetts Ave.

Getting busted for selling alcohol to underaged patrons is a second-degree misdemeanor and can carry up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. But unless the employee is a "super-repeat offender," deputies usually don't make an arrest, Powers said. Instead, clerks will be cited.

Sometimes, the store itself won't get in much trouble either. "For the time being, it's just the clerk," Pehote said. "We don't cite the store. We cite the employees."

But employees at Hess Mart and Speedway said their stores have been fined in the past -- not often, they emphasized.

Being cited often results in the dismissal of the employee. At Hess Mart, employees who are caught selling alcohol to minors are automatically fired under a company policy, said manager Michele Bosser. The clerk cited at Hess Mart on Friday night had been employed there for only about three weeks, Bosser said.

Just down the street, at Speedway, manager Erin Kelley said employees are usually fired for violating liquor laws. This time, the clerk was "suspended indefinitely," she said".

-- Staff writer Mary Carmichael can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6232. Her e-mail address is carmichael@sptimes.com.

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