Two clerks arrested for selling alcohol to minors
On Saturday, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office’s Alcohol Compliance Team held a minor decoy operation in the Avila Beach and Los Osos areas. Two were arrested in the sting.
The minor decoy operation is an enforcement action that uses minor decoys to enter retail stores to purchase alcoholic beverages. If the sale and furnishing of alcohol to the minor decoy takes place, a team of deputy sheriffs specifically trained in ABC enforcement programs immediately take enforcement action against store personnel responsible for the violation.
On Saturday, between 5-9 p.m. the team arrested two store clerks for selling alcoholic beverages to the minor decoy. One arrest occurred in Avila Beach, the other occurred in Los Osos. During the operation, all retailers compliance checked during the sting operation responsibly declined the sales except for the two clerks.
Arrested:
- Jose Marino Valdez Jr., 33 years old, Oceano at Zippy’s Market, 3915 Avila Beach Drive, Avila Beach
- Kaito Hiro Okamoto-Garson, 20 years old, Los Osos at Grocery Outlet, 1130 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos
Both arrestees were released on their signed promise to appear in court and will be charged through the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office for illegally furnishing/selling alcohol to a minor, a violation of Business & Professions Code § 25658(a), a misdemeanor.
The sheriff’s office will be forwarding the two retailer violation cases to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) for consideration of administrative action against the ABC licensees.
The sheriff’s office will continue its California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control grant-funded operations through June 30, 2017, unless otherwise extended with additional grant funding.
Ongoing programs include minor decoy deployment, shoulder tap operations, on-sale and off-sale licensee monitoring, and false identification detection operations.
