Three Pismo Beach clerks cited for selling alcohol to minors

December 19, 2023

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Pismo Beach police officers cited three clerks for selling alcohol to minors during a sting conducted on Friday. 

Along with Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents, police officers conducted a minor decoy operation in Pismo Beach. Under the supervision of law enforcement, minors attempted to purchase alcohol from 10 licensed businesses.

Three clerks sold alcohol to the minor during the operation, according to the Pismo Beach Police Department.

The clerks who sold the liquor face a minimum fine of $250 and 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first-time offense. Additionally, ABC may take administrative action against the alcohol licenses of the businesses that sold to a minor. Such action may include a fine, suspension or the permanent revocation of the license.

“Conducting these operations allows us to help reduce underage drinking and increase public safety,” Pismo Beach Police Sergeant Anthony Hernandez said in a statement. 

Local law enforcement agencies have conducted minor decoy operations throughout the state of California since the 1980s. When the program first began, retail establishments sold alcohol to minors at rates as high as 40 to 50% of the time. When law enforcement conducts operations routinely, rates have dropped to less than 10%, police said. 

Partial funding for the Pismo Beach sting came from a grant administered by ABC’s Alcohol Policing Partnership program.