Too young to buy alcohol

Age compliance checks conducted throughout the region last weekend by Idaho State Police Alcohol Beverage Control detectives resulted in nine citations to Kootenai County businesses accused of selling liquor to minors.

ISP spokeswoman Teresa Baker told The Press the agency is not yet prepared to release the names of the businesses cited, because the cases have not yet been forwarded to the prosecutor's office.

The compliance checks were conducted by ABC detectives working in plainclothes with underage youths who attempted to purchase alcoholic beverages at 48 businesses in Bonner, Kootenai and Shoshone counties.

"Unfortunately, 29 percent of the businesses checked failed to comply with the law and sold to a minor under the age of 21," stated a press release issued by the state police agency. "This failure rate is significantly greater than the average failure rate of 10 to 15 percent for age compliance checks in Idaho."

ISP reports that some of these failures occurred after sales people asked for and received the underage person's identification - which clearly showed the date of birth and the date the underage person was to turn 21 years of age - and still sold or served alcohol to the underage person.

In other cases, identification wasn't requested.

The breakdown of citations by county is as follows:

Bonner County - 11 businesses checked, one sale to a minor.

Kootenai County - 23 businesses checked, nine sales to minors.

Shoshone County - 14 businesses checked, four sales to minors.

Misdemeanor citations were issued in these cases and they have each been referred to the appropriate prosecuting attorney's office.

Additionally, the compliance operation included underage youths requesting an adult to purchase alcohol for them in Coeur d'Alene. Four of the 28 adults that were asked to purchase alcohol for an underage buyer made the purchase. These adults were issued misdemeanor citations for providing alcohol to a minor.

Penalties for a person who sells or furnishes alcohol to underage youth pursuant to Section 23-603, Idaho Code, include fines between $500 and $1,000 and as much as one year in jail. The maximum penalties for licensed establishments that sell alcohol to minors are a 10-day license suspension or $1,000 fine for a first offense within three years; a 30-day license suspension or 15-day suspension and $1,500 fine for a second offense within three years; and 180-day suspension for a third offense within three years.

Additionally, during the two-day operation, one person was arrested for possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia and another was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.