Two Merced businesses cited for selling alcohol to minors

Two Merced businesses were cited this week for selling liquor to minors, the Merced Police Department reported Friday.

The businesses, Wingstop on Yosemite Avenue and Los Panchos on G Street, were cited Thursday during an undercover sting operation conducted by police, the department said in a news release.

Officers took underage kids into numerous businesses Thursday and the minors attempted to purchase alcoholic beverages. Four Merced police officers and two agents with the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control assisted with the sting operation.

The businesses that refused to sell liquor to minors were: Me-n-Ed’s Pizza on G Street, Sushi Cuisine on G Street, DiCicco’s on Highway 59, Pizza Villa on Loughborough Drive, Paul’s Place on G Street, Carrows on Motel Drive and La Hacienda II on G Street.

“It is encouraging when the stores check identifications and refuse to sell alcohol to minors,” Sgt. Don King said in the statement. “This will help keep Merced’s youth safe.”

Those who sell liquor to a minor can have administrative actions taken against them, which may include a fine, suspension of the liquor license, permanent revocation of the license or all three.

Minor decoy operations have been conducted by local law enforcement throughout the state since the 1980s and have proved to be an effective deterrent, police said. The California Supreme Court in 1994 ruled unanimously that use of underage decoys is a valid tool of law enforcement to ensure that liquor licensees are complying with the law.

Three other Merced businesses were cited earlier this month in an identical operation.

Funding for the program was provided by the ABC.

This story was originally published February 13, 2015 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Two Merced businesses cited for selling alcohol to minors."