One store cited for underage sales in Cortez sting

One store cited for underage sales in Cortez sting

Jan. 4, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

On the evening of Dec. 28, an employee at Texaco Amigo Mart on E. Main St. allegedly did something no other liquor establishment in Cortez was willing to do that night — she sold a six-pack of beer to a certain young man.

Little did she know, that young man was only 20 years old and working with the Cortez Police Department on a sting operation.

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane was holding true to a promise he had made last spring to continue sting operations ensuring that local liquor stores are not selling to minors.

"We’d been hearing it wasn’t hard (for underage persons) to buy booze, so we decided to see what could be done," Lane told the Journal in April. "We will continue to perform the sting operation until people comply."

Following through on that statement, last Thursday an unidentified 20-year-old male went from one establishment to the next, attempting to buy alcohol from whoever was willing to sell it.

Lane said the 52-year-old employee of Texaco Amigo Mart was the only person who didn’t card the young man.

According to the report, the 20-year-old, wired with audio equipment, entered the store at 8:45 p.m. and purchased a six-pack of Coors Light. Allegedly, at no point did the store clerk ask for identification or verbally inquire as to the young man’s age.

When the officers returned later that evening to issue the summons for selling to a person under the age of 21, the woman said the store had just had a meeting about being careful not to sell alcohol or cigarettes to minors.

The clerk added she always checks for identification, but just didn’t do it this time. She said she was "just sure he was at least 21."

The manager of the Texaco, Lorna Crook ,said although she doesn’t particularly like the sting operations, she understands that law enforcement must take necessary steps to prevent the illegal sales of alcohol to minors.

"We’re going to get to where we have to ID everybody," Crook said.

During a sting operation in March, Lane said six or seven establishments were in violation of the liquor law, and then in April, the numbers fell to three violations with the same method of operation. More than eight months later, most local liquor stores continue to head the warnings.

"This is the best the liquor stores have performed," Lane said. "I’m very pleased."

Crook said the employee in question is still employed at the Texaco.

The legal procedures yet to come involve criminal charges against the employee for selling to someone under the age of 21, and civil charges against Texaco for a liquor-law violation, Lane said.

This incident is a second offense for the Texaco station. The store was one of the liquor establishments in violation of liquor law during a sting operation in the spring of 2000.