Cops: Stores Sold Tobacco to Minors

Source from:  EARTHtimes.org - Thursday, March 27, 2008 03/28/2008

Using members of a youth group in a mini-sting operation, Bayonne has ticketed seven local retailers for allegedly selling tobacco to minors. During the last several weeks, the city police department sent members of the Bayonne Police Explorers, a youth group affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, with a city health department employee as a witness, into local stores to buy cigarettes as part of an investigation of possible sales to minors, city Police Director Mark Smith said. Police said the businesses issued tickets are Broadway Deli & Grocery, 324 Broadway; Rite Aid, 471 Broadway; Walgreens, 699 Broadway; High Spirits, 818 Broadway; Midtown Pharmacy, 812 Kennedy Blvd.; The Huddle 2, 123 Prospect Ave.; and Bayonne Service Station, 1121 Kennedy Blvd. While many retailers checked IDs and refused to sell to the youths, Smith said that employees at seven businesses did provide individual packs of cigarettes to the youths in violation of the law and were issued court summonses. Charges against all seven will be heard at 5 p.m. in Bayonne Municipal Court on April 15. If the business owners are found guilty, they can be fined anywhere from $250 to $1,250 for the offense and their license to sell tobacco can be suspended and/or revoked. Police Chief Robert Kubert said that businesses should ask their customers to produce valid identification with proof of age before selling any tobacco products to anyone under age 19. Enditem