Liquor penalty stands »
By Shawn on Jan 29, 2010 | In Articles | No Comments »
DRACUT — State authorities sided with the Board of Selectmen’s decision to suspend the liquor license of a store allegedly caught selling beer to a minor.
The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission handed down the decision Monday against Dracut Center Convenience at 1388 Bridge St.
Dracut Center Convenience had appealed to the ABCC after selectmen slapped store owners with a 42-day liquor-license suspension in June for selling alcohol to someone under 21 — the shop’s second offense within two years.
“I think it’s a great decision,” Selectmen Chairman George Malliaros said. “I’m thrilled by it. I’m really pleased that the ABCC saw fit to support our judgment. Certainly, the punishment we meted out was more than warranted for such flagrant actions. Serving minors on more than one occasion within that time frame is totally unacceptable.”
Kevin Murphy, the lawyer for Dracut Center Convenience, argued that the suspension should be thrown out because the town needs to have a policy on alcohol sting operations and advertise the sting operations in the same way police often advertise sobriety checkpoints.
A store clerk at Dracut Center Convenience had allegedly been caught selling alcohol to minors after police stings.
“I’m surprised that the ABCC would uphold this,” said Murphy, who also serves at the attorney for Dracut’s School Committee and is a state representative for Lowell.
The store owners have yet to decide whether to appeal the ABCC’s decision to Middlesex Superior Court, according to Murphy.
In 2008, Dracut Center Convenience received a 15-day liquor-license suspension for allegedly selling alcohol to a minor during a police sting operation. The owners only served three days of that suspension with the understanding that the other 12 days would be served in the case of another infraction during the store’s two-year probationary period. Read the rest »
Here’s another great reason why Dracut does so well with so little.