Published: November 25, 2008 12:11 am            

CITY OF TONAWANDA: Alcohol sting nets two who serve to underaged

A weekend sting by City of Tonawanda police netted two individuals for selling alcohol to minors.

Using two female decoys, ages 19 and 20, police on Saturday night tested all 29 locations where alcohol is sold in Tonawanda, Capt. John Ivancic said.

“We always hope everyone’s in compliance, but, unfortunately, we usually do get a couple a year who sell to minors,” Ivancic said.

City police try to do at least one alcohol and one tobacco sting each year.

Police used a 15-year-old decoy who visited 11 tobacco retailers in the city two weeks ago; all of them proofed the decoy and didn’t sell tobacco products, Ivancic said.

The Wilson Farms on Broad Street and Porter’s Pub on Main Street both sold alcohol to a decoy without properly proofing her, police said.

At about 8 p.m. Saturday, police say a bartender at Porter’s served the 19-year-old agent a bottle of Coors Light without checking the decoy’s identification or asking her age.

But the decoy wasn’t the only underage person drinking in the bar. When police entered the bar, they saw three people drinking who appeared to be underage. An ID sweep revealed that the three were age 20.

The bartender, Rachel M. Fiorella, 22, of Amherst, was charged with four counts of unlawfully selling alcohol to a person under age 21.

Fiorella allegedly told police she had to multi-task and didn’t have time to check the patrons’ IDs.

About a half hour before that incident, police charged Shane M. Davidson, 21, of North Tonawanda, with selling alcohol to a minor.

Davidson, a cashier at the Wilson Farms on Broad Street, sold a six-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade to the agent.

When she indicated she did not have identification on her, the cashier asked for her date of birth, which she said was 1989. Davidson keyed in to the register a birth date that allowed the alcohol sale to go through.

Wilson Farms associates are certified in the state Health Department’s tobacco program, and receive comprehensive training on alcohol sales through a program developed in cooperation with the State University of New York, said Wilson Farms spokeswoman Kimberly Tylec.

Tylec said the company reinforces policies and laws through a daily associate signoff sheet, and by conducting its own monthly stings in every store.

“While the incident this past weekend is most regrettable, we can assure the Tonawanda community that we take these incidents very seriously and have taken immediate corrective action at the store where the incident occurred,” Tylec said in a statement.

City police have filed reports on the incidents with the New York State Liquor Authority, which will determine what type of action to take against the businesses.

Both Fiorella and Davidson were scheduled to appear today in Tonawanda City Court. A Class A misdemeanor, the unlawful selling charge carries a penalty of up to one year in prison.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.

        

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