Agencies to Probe Liquor Sales to Youth

The Lost Hills sheriff’s station will join forces with state Alcoholic Beverage Control investigators in August to determine whether area merchants are complying with laws on selling alcohol to minors.

According to Deputy Kelly McMichael, investigations will be conducted in Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu and Westlake Village, as well as unincorporated county areas patrolled by the Lost Hills station.

The targeted businesses will be outlets for alcohol sales, including grocery and liquor stores, McMichael said.

In a typical test, a plainclothes officer will enter a store minutes before a minor, usually 18 or 19 years old, comes in to purchase alcohol. Cashiers who fail to ask the minor for identification will be cited on the spot by the officer.

Penalties vary, ranging from $750 to $3,000 for a first offense, $3,000 to $6,000 for a second offense within a year and a possible license suspension for a third offense, also within a year.

McMichael said the investigations are routine--conducted three or four times annually--and not the result of an increase in sales to minors.

“We want to raise community awareness this month,” she said.