Wife got busted in a sting!

[Lancer]

This is for any bartenders out there. Make sure you check ALL your patrons I.D.'s!Wife now tends bar just a few blocks from home (Emmit's, if your in town!). She already was having a bad day from her day job cause her boss reemed her out for staying home when our 5 yr old was sick. What ever! So about 3 hours into her bar job things were a little buisy, a young girl comes in and orders a beer. Wife asks her for her ID, girl says she doesn't have one with her. So my wife tells her she really needs one to be served. The girl gave her some story and my wife was tired and didn't want any more drama with this girl. So using poor judgment and knowing better, she gave her a beer. As soon as the girl got a hold of it she put it down and walked outside, me wife said she knew she just made a huge mistake. Next thing you know, in comes Mr. Po Po. And she had a phone call from another bar trying to warn her that the cops were out doing a sting. $350 fine for serving a minor. So much for using that for a new engine. I was hoping there was a way to fight it in court, (entrapment?) but there really isn't anything she could say to justify what she did. Lesson learned.The thing that bugs me though is that at the same time, a Papa Murphys was being robbed at gun point just up the street from my home. So instead of the police going after 'real' criminals, they have to make a criminal out of a hard working, tired woman, working for her tips.

[MRCN RCE]

dude, that sucks. yeah i don't know if there are any ways of fighting that one. damn that is an expensive lesson maybe things will balance out and you'll win the lottery to make up for it

[jake75]

Yeh - they send in people who look old enough so you let your guard down and "pow". Market near me got busted twice - now their policy is to card everyone - even those of us with Medicare cards!

[18stars]

Tending bar is a hard job. We all make mistakes but its even worse to be entrapped like that.

[Raven]

At least it's not as bad as the 2 bartenders in Germany I believe it is. They are trying to charge them with murder for serving multiple shots of Tequila to a minor who later died of alcohol poisoning.

[coldmm803]

that sucks man

[Sublimewind]

They do bar stings all the time, nothing new... Glad it wasn't worse on the wife... She learnded a lesson, kinda like a speeding ticket..

[Whelan]

Bar stings are a waste of time.Personally put the blame on the parents if they are living at home that is for not knowing where their kids are or what they are up to. Not to mention if your kid is 17 or 18 living at home and stumbles in at 1 in the morning, time for a breath check, followed by a beating, then grounding. (not severe beating but nobody is above a slap).And the cops in your town must be REALLY bored if they are doing bar stings on a Wednesday night.

[ColonelPanic]

My cousin got busted at a drug store she used to work at several years back. It was really busy, people were getting angry at waiting to check out, so she let someone slide without ID'ing... Of course that person was an undercover agent. She didn't mean to do it, just a temporary lapse in judgement under pressure I guess. Don't recall what kind of fines they gave her.

[Mavrik]

$350 is better then a $10,000 fine or loss of license to sell alcohol.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »Bar stings are a waste of time.Personally put the blame on the parents if they are living at home that is for not knowing where their kids are or what they are up to. Not to mention if your kid is 17 or 18 living at home and stumbles in at 1 in the morning, time for a breath check, followed by a beating, then grounding. (not severe beating but nobody is above a slap).And the cops in your town must be REALLY bored if they are doing bar stings on a Wednesday night. Thess stings are probably done with people who are 20 years 11 months old. Not 17 or 18 year olds. A 19 year old age limit for beer would be more reasonable but that's not politically correct.

[Mavrik]

what gets me is the "under aged girl" made it in the door. Don't most bars have a bouncer? The ball got dropped the moment she got in I guess.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »what gets me is the "under aged girl" made it in the door. Don't most bars have a bouncer? The ball got dropped the moment she got in I guess.Nope, 95% of the ones here only have someone at the door on "party" nights or weekends..

[millster]

Same around here. We don't have bouncers except on the weekends or party holidays. Given the circumstances in this case, it IS too bad. It wasn't a case of blatant scoffing at the law.At least the fine wasn't worse, I guess... if there's anything good to be said.

[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »Nope, 95% of the ones here only have someone at the door on "party" nights or weekends.. The bars/clubs I've gone to always carded at the door or when I ordered a drink. But those same stings take place up here too.

[ajconover]

I've always been confused by how this type of setup is even legal. If the person served is over 21, then no crime was committed (ID or not). If the person being served was under 21... isn't it illegal for a person under 21 to purchase (or attempt to purchase) alcohol in most states?(Edit: I was really [sarcastically] asking: Wouldn't it still be illegal for a cop, or person working for the police, to attempt to purchase alcohol if they were under 21? The same thing seems to apply to cops selling crack to people which they then turn around and bust... blatant entrapment, and it's inexplicably legal for cops to sell drugs, solicit (removed), purchase alcohol under-age, etc.)

[Mavrik]

Here in alaska I believe the sting involved under aged people trying to buy a drink without ID and getting. can't speak for all the sting ops though.

[AKLGT]

oh they do stings up here too. most of the smaller biz know better so they kick you out if you don't even look old enough.

[WaveAction]

that sucks man, sorry to hear..atleast it was JUST $350 and nothing more

[lovemyraffe]

At least she isn't seeing any time. In Utah if you serve a minor it is mandatory jail time.

[Dragonsm]

My brother in law got "busted" in a sting a year ago at the grocery store here in MN for selling cigarettes to a minor (someone who was 17) What made it even worse was he did ask for the license, and the person gave him a legit MN driver's license of someone else that looked exactly like the person provided from the police department. It swiped fine and he got busted.The supermarket covered the fine, but store policy was immediate termination which managment tried to find away around however "corporate" office stated the rules were the rules. With counterfeits as good as they are and people using their older sibling or friend's id's to get around the scan and swipe part, it is really tough for bartenders and anyone else that sells tobacco and alcohol.

[Kari]

Sounds like there was no way your brother-in-law could have avoided that one. Doesn't sound like a fair setup at all, especially with a government-issued "fake" ID. How the hell is the clerk supposed to know?One reason I'm glad I don't work at the grocery store anymore...

[vibebob]

I live in a smallish town with a large college (Texas A&M) and the College Station PD do stings all the time. some, they go in plain clothes to bars and watch, waiting for and underage to order. then they walk up and make casual conversation, get the kid to relax and then ask for an ID. one kid they busted was 1 week from being 21. I know the cop and he tells how the parents were pissed off about it and called the chief. but yanno, "rules are rules, 21 means 21 not 20 years, 11 months and 3 weeks" Chief sided with copkid was fined and charged with MIP

[joholste]

the way we always use to get by the door guard was to say we were the DD and they'd mark the people who could drink.