By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com
Elk Grove police and state alcoholic beverage control investigators have recently made arrests from stings using decoys to stop underage drinking.
In July and August three people were arrested for either selling to minors or purchasing alcohol for minors.
In the case of selling alcohol to a minor, police arrested a clerk after a young person working under the supervision of officers attempted to buy alcohol. The decoy tried to buy the alcohol at a total of 31 Elk Grove businesses.
In the other operation, targeting people who buy alcohol for people under 21 years old, two adults were arrested for purchasing alcohol for minors.
In that sting, a minor, under the supervision of Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, stood outside a liquor store or convenience market and asked adults to buy alcohol for them.
Elk Grove police said that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunk driving fatalities than the general adult population.
Stings using minors as decoys have been conducted since the 1980s. The rate of arrest is going down because of the routine stings using decoys, police said.
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.









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