Summit County Sheriff’s Detective Bureau Conducts Immediate Investigation
By Emily Chesnic
Three stores in the Nordonia Hills community were caught selling alcohol to underage customers this month in an undercover operation conducted by the Summit County Sheriff’s Detective Bureau.
In early September, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office received complaints regarding one business in Northfield Center Township selling alcohol to underage individuals, said Summit County Sheriff’s Inspector William Holland. The complaints immediately initiated an investigation by the Detective Bureau, with the investigation into the matter taking just a couple of days, he said.
A decoy visited locations in the community, revealing the businesses not checking for proper identification and selling alcoholic beverages to minors.
“Undercover purchases of alcohol were made at multiple locations,” he said.
During the investigation, Exxon Mobile on Route 82 in Northfield Center Township, and Sagamore Quick Chek on Route 82 and A+ Quick Mart on Olde 8 Road, both in Sagamore Hills Township, sold alcohol to a person under the age of 21, said Holland. The legal minimum age to purchase alcohol and minimum drinking age in Ohio is age 21.
In Summit County, “sales to underage persons continues to be an issue,” Holland said.
According to Ohio state laws governing alcohol, an individual may be arrested for selling or providing alcohol to someone under the age of 21 and for drinking, buying, or possessing alcohol while under 21-years-old.
Holland said the store clerks who made the alcohol sales to minors each were issued a summons for Furnishing Alcohol to an Underage Person – a first-degree misdemeanor. He did not provide the names of the clerks to Nordonia Hills News.
Nordonia Center Trustee Russ Mazzola said this is the first time he heard of any issues regarding the underage sale of alcohol in the township.
“We will certainly work with our neighboring communities to prevent it,” he said. “Obviously, underage drinking is a serious issue, and we will not put up with any business that sells alcohol to minors. We will work with our law enforcement partners any way we can to stop it from occurring.”
Sagamore Hills Trustee David DePasquale said township officials were not made privy to the investigation, just learning today of these incidences.
