Authorities crack down on beer law violators
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“We’re asking for all of them to get suspended for 90 days,” said District Attorney General Dale Potter of the eight Warren County and two Van Buren stores caught selling beer to a 19-year-old operative this Spring. “I think they should all be treated the same.”
Prior to the 90-day suspension handed to Country Club Market by the Warren County Commission, such an extreme punishment for a first offense violation of the beer law was unheard of. However, Potter said beer sales to minors is a major problem here and that the best way to remedy the situation is to set a tough example.
“We are wanting to send a message that selling alcohol to minors will not be tolerated,” Potter said. “This is an easily preventable problem. All people have to do is ask for identification.”
For Zack Ayoub, new owner of Country Club Market, the 90-day suspension has hit hard as he reports his overall business has dropped by 30 percent since his suspension. His was the only store outside the city limits caught selling beer to the operative. The remainder are in the city limits and their cases will be heard by the city beer board.
Ayoub, who bought the store a short time before his clerk sold beer to the operative, said the clerk who sold the beer came highly recommended by the previous owner and the employee has since left employment there. Employees who sold beer illegally were fined $750 plus court costs per sale.
Ayoub said he may have to sell the store now because of the early losses he has seen.
“I’ve never heard of any place getting their license suspended for 90 days for a first offense,” Ayoub said, noting he has had to let go of two employees. “I’m having to work 18-hour days because I can’t afford to hire help because of the lost business. The thing is when I owned a store in another county, I was given certificates by the police because I wouldn’t sell to their agents.”
Ayoub estimated only about 20 percent of the county commission who suspended his license have good business sense.
“These folks (county commissioners) aren’t business people,” Ayoub said. “This has done big damage to the business because people not only buy beer but they’ll also come in and buy cigarettes, food and gas while they’re here. It’s also left me with about $7,000 worth of beer which I can’t sell to the public or sell back to the distributor.”
While Ayoub said he may be able to survive until the beer ban is lifted on July 20, he still feels he is being discriminated against because he has not been granted a beer license. He was operating under the previous owner’s beer license when his clerk sold to the operative. Ayoub first applied for a license on Jan. 14 but has not been granted a license at this point. However, 1st District Commissioner Sally Brock of the Warren County Safety Committee said Ayoub will receive his license.
“He’ll get his license at the next commission meeting,” Brock said, noting he still will not be able to sell beer until the suspension is finished on July 20.
A date has not been set for the city beer board to hear the remaining cases against the seven city establishments. Unlike the county, in which the entire county commission acts on beer licensing, the city uses a board of private citizens to decide licensing issues.