Crime & Safety

Two Arrested in Carlsbad for Selling Alcohol to Minors

On Friday, the Carlsbad Police and the California Alcoholic Beverage Control conducted a "minor decoy operation" to see which businesses would sell to minors.

Officers from the and Investigators from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) arrested two suspects, Candice Berkley, 24 and Michael Gaynor, 46, at two ABC licensed premises on Friday during a "minor decoy operation" in Carlsbad. 

The minors, under the direct supervision of Carlsbad Police officers and ABC investigators, attempted to purchase alcohol from seven retail licensees in the city of Carlsbad.

Those who sold to the minor(s) face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC will take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage licenses of those businesses that sold alcohol to minors. That may include a fine, a suspension of the license, or the permanent revocation of the license.  

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The Carlsbad Police Department is conducting the compliance checks using a grant from ABC to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. Statistics have shown that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the general adult population.

Minor Decoy operations have been conducted by local law enforcement throughout the state since the 1980’s.      

Find out what's happening in Carlsbadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

–City of Carlsbad Police Release


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