Sheriff intends to curtail underage drinking

Yesterday, members of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Youth Services Unit assisted by detectives from the Special Investigations Unit conducted another “Alcohol Compliance Detail” according to a report received by Historic City News.

For these operations, three teenagers, ages 16, 18, and 19, attempted to purchase alcohol at 52 St. Johns County establishments. The teens were allowed to purchase alcohol at 7 of these businesses.

In accordance with established investigative protocol, the teen would produce his actual identification if asked and state his true age if requested.

The Sheriff’s Office filed charges of selling, serving or giving alcohol to a person under the age of 21 against the seven clerks who sold alcohol to the minors. Those reports will also be sent to the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco for potential administrative investigations.

The establishments where clerks were charged with selling alcohol to a minor were:

• CVS Pharmacy, 2703 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd., a 52-year old female sold a 6pk of beer.

• Carmelo’s Marketplace, 146 King St., a 52-year old female sold a 6pk of beer.

• BP, 2499 U.S. 1 South, a 40-year old male sold a 6pk of beer.

• Buddy Boy’s, 8430 C.R. 13 N., a 19-year old female sold a 6pk of beer.

• Boondocks, 9205 C.R. 13 N., a 47-year old female sold a beer.

• Rivertown Fine Wine & Spirits, 2849 C.R. 210W., a 42-year old male sold a 4pk of beer.

• Sunoco Food Mart, 450 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd., a 28-year old male sold a 6pk of beer.

St. Johns County Sheriff David B. Shoar thanked the 86% of those clerks at the businesses that were in compliance with the underage drinking laws, and added “It is our hope to raise awareness of the problem of underage drinking in our county and to deter businesses and individuals from providing our youth with alcohol as we will continue with these types of operations.”