3 clerks busted for sales to minors

Three clerks at Eunice stores were arrested Wednesday for selling alcoholic beverages to a minor, Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot said.
The clerks were caught up in a program that pays for officers and an under-aged buyer to conduct sting operations on the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco funded by STL Proud.
STL Proud is made up of members of the St. Landry Parish Children & Youth Services Planning Board.
“The program employs an underage person to go in and attempt to buy alcohol or tobacco and hopefully they will check the ID,” Fontenot said.
“If not, an officer will be in to issue a summons,” he said.
Police intend to check every business that sells alcohol or tobacco, he said.
The times or days when the operation will occur will be random, he aid.
“We are now only citing the actual employee that sells it and hoping to make this kind of a warning to the merchants,” he said.
The legal age to buy tobacco is 18 and for alcohol it is 21.
A person found guilty of illegal sales to minor faces a fine of no less than $500 and up to $1,000. A jail sentence of 30 days to six months also is possible, Fontenot said.
Arrested for illegal sales to minors were Nga Chau, 56, 900 block of Caraway Boulevard, Gahanna, Ohio; Melanie Murphy, 23, 4300 block of Perchville Road, Eunice; and Allison Scripture, 29, 200 block of Ledoux Drive, Eunice.
The stores were Raceway, Kim’s Market and Brownie’s.
According to its website, St. Landry Parish has been selected by the Louisiana Partnerships for Success as one of 10 high need parishes in the state to address the priorities of underage drinking, prescription drug misuse/abuse, and depression.