Clayton Police have very little tolerance for underage alcohol consumption. The same goes for anyone selling alcohol to minors.
“We see the direct impacts of drinking by minors and their ability to make good decisions; never a good mixture.” says Clayton Police Chief Blair Myhand.
That’s why the Clayton Police Department’s conducted an undercover compliance operation to ensure that businesses in town that sell alcohol are following the law.
Of the 29 businesses checked, 13 of them sold alcohol to the underage teen working with police. This is a 45% violation rate and completely unacceptable to Clayton Police.
“This uptick in violations is very concerning to us, as it should be,” Chief Myhand said. “We are working to limit access to alcohol in hopes of reducing the danger when minors consume alcohol.”
This is decrease in compliance from previous campaigns. When this compliance operation was last conducted in 2017, only 9 of 27 businesses sold alcohol to the underage buyer.
The Clayton Police Department was assisted by a 19-year old underage volunteer (working covertly under close police supervision and monitoring) going to only stores licensed to sell off-premise alcohol and attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages. If the clerks asked for an ID, the underage buyer presented proper ID showing the correct age of 19. Of the 13 locations where alcohol was sold in violation of the law, some did not check the ID at all. Some of those clerks actually checked the underage teen’s ID, but still sold the alcohol after overriding their computers. At one location, the same clerk who was cited for selling to a minor in 2017 was cited again for selling alcohol to a minor.
Not only is the clerk who sold the alcohol cited, but the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement or ALE can prosecute the retailer as well. The individual clerks can face probation and a multitude of fines that are decided by the Municipal Court Judge. They are cited for a violation of N.C. G.S. 18B-302(a) Selling a malt beverage to a person who at the time was less than 21 years old.
Underage Alcohol Citations Issued:
Handi Mart 10419 US Hwy 70 Bus W Mousa Mohammed Al Abeye
Sheetz 9777 US Hwy 70 Bus W Kari Ann Hodge
Speedway 8060 US Hwy 70 Bus W Tranelle Shante Payton
Clayton Mart 208 E. Main St Anahi Guadalupe Jimenez
Food Lion 238 Pritchard Rd Erica Dawn Webb
Handee Hugo’s 304 Pritchard Rd Cinthya Lynn Gonzalez
Deep River Brewery 700 W. Main St Lacey Jane Batts
Walgreens 11306 US Hwy 70 Bus W Sean Palmer Abbruzzese
ABC Store 12487 US Hwy 70 Bus W Lisa Jones Garrett
Clayton Beverage 11679 US Hwy 70 Bus W Brian Earl Fleming
Speedway 11693 US Hwy 70 Bus W Wesley Allen Buckner
Sandhu’s 1225 Amelia Church Rd Edward Daniel Anderson
Howard’s Mini-Mart 4222 Barber Mill Rd Melissa Renee Infante
