SIMI VALLEY : 24 Cited for Selling Alcohol to Minors

Simi Valley authorities have issued citations to 24 businesses that sold alcohol to “decoys” under the legal drinking age of 21, police said Friday.

The undercover operation on June 30 and July 1 came in the wake of a California Supreme Court ruling in April that police may use underage decoys in operations to determine whether local stores, restaurants and bars are selling alcohol illegally to minors.

During the Simi Valley operation, police sent an 18-year-old female and a 19-year-old male to 66 retail businesses across the city. The decoys, who presented valid California driver’s licenses when asked and were observed by undercover officers, were able to buy alcohol at 24 stores, or 36% of those contacted, police said.

In similar operations between 1988 and 1992, between 10% and 35% of Simi Valley businesses contacted sold liquor to minors, police said.

Store personnel who sold to the decoys were issued misdemeanor citations for violating state laws prohibiting sale of alcoholic beverages to minors, and the names of the stores were sent to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, police said. Punishment could include a fine, liquor license suspension or, in some cases, license revocation, police said.

A state Court of Appeal in San Francisco had ruled that such programs were unconstitutional.

Although the state’s constitution prohibits the sale of alcohol to minors, the lower court ruled that it does not contain an exception for minors working for law enforcement agencies.

But the state Supreme Court overturned that ruling, saying stores and other establishments can be fined or lose their licenses for selling to youthful undercover police recruits.