LOS ANGELES COUNTY >> Authorities arrested more than 400 people Saturday — 124 of them in Los Angeles County alone — during a statewide sting operation targeting adults who agree to buy alcohol for minors, officials said.
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control officials teamed with more than 80 police and sheriff’s departments throughout the state to conduct “shoulder tap” operations, ABC spokesman John Carr said.
Officials made 413 arrests and citations during the sting, he said. Nearly 340 of the arrests were for furnishing alcohol to minors, while 70 others were arrested for other reasons, such as having open containers of alcohol, possessing fake IDs, public drunkenness, drug possession or outstanding warrants.
In the Southland, in addition to the 124 arrests made in Los Angeles County, officials made 57 arrests in Orange County, 29 in Riverside County, 10 in San Bernardino County and 2 in Ventura County, Carr said.
“Under the program, a minor under the direct supervision of a peace officer will stand outside a liquor or convenience store and ask patrons to buy them alcohol,” Carr explained. “The minor indicates in some way he or she is underage and cannot purchase the alcohol. If the adults agree, and purchase alcohol for the minor, officers then arrest and cite them for furnishing alcohol to the minor.”
Those busted for furnishing booze to kids can expect a minimum penalty of a $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.
Funding for many of the local operations was provided by grants from the ABC, as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, through the California Office of Traffic Safety.