Staff Writer
Cordele Dispatch
Vienna —
Complaints that a local business was selling alcohol to minors prompted police here to take action.
Last Friday, the Vienna Police Department conducted a series of compliance checks on every business in the area licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.
“I had received several complaints about one particular store,” said Vienna Police Chief Jamey Reed. “In order to be fair all across the board, I decided to conduct compliance checks at every licensed location.”
During the operation, an underage informant, suited with a hidden camera, entered each business and made an attempt to purchase beer.
To the dismay of local law enforcement eight of the nine licensed establishments sold the beer to the underage informant without requesting or requiring identification.
Employees that sold the alcoholic beverages were cited at the following locations around town: Pilot Travel Center, Shell Gas Station, Citgo Gas Station, Pig Jig Mart, Zippy #1 and #2, V-Mart, and Bill H Sportsbar. The lone establishment that refused to sell to the minor was the Bottle Shop Liquor Store.
“We will continue to randomly conduct these checks in the hopes of deterring future alcohol sales to minors,” added Reed. “Our main focus in this is to keep the kids and young adults safe.”
