In Stanislaus sting operation, five arrested for providing alcohol to minors

As part of a statewide operation to stop people from furnishing alcohol to minors, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday used underage decoys to visit four businesses licensed by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Over six hours, the decoys made 37 attempts to have people outside the businesses buy alcohol for them. The minors would state that they were too young to buy it themselves. Five people made purchases and were arrested for the violations and released on citations to appear in Superior Court, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The penalty is a minimum of a $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service, an ABC press release said.

At least 420 arrests were made statewide on Saturday and Sunday, according to ABC spokesman John Carr. More than 1,000 stores around the state were part of the “Shoulder Tap” operation.

It is a misdemeanor to furnish alcoholic beverages to minors, and anyone observed doing so is subject to arrest pursuant to Section 25658(a) of the Business & Profession Code, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 8:25 AM with the headline "In Stanislaus sting operation, five arrested for providing alcohol to minors."