STRATFORD — Five local establishments were found to be in violation of liquor laws by a Connecticut Liquor Control compliance inspection on April 28, according to a release from the Stratford Police Department and the CLC.
Four of the businesses were cited in violation of the law prohibiting sale of alcohol to someone under 21 years old. The other violation was for sale of alcohol without a permit.
The businesses cited for selling alcohol to underage people were Lordship Center Market at 350 Stratford Road, Lordship Wine and Liquor at 60 Access Rd., 7-11 at 3621 Main St. and Wines Unlimited at 2336 Broadbridge Ave. All four of these businesses have active liquor licenses, according to state license records.
M&D Convenience and Deli at 6 Boston Ave. was cited for sale of alcohol without a permit. State records do not list a liquor license for this business.
No penalties were announced for these businesses, but similar violations have resulted in a liquor license suspension of one day or more and a fine of $750 or more, according to the Liquor Control Commission.
In order to conduct the inspection, Stratford Police detectives and commission agents had an underage person go into these stores to attempt to purchase alcohol.
“The inspections were performed in an effort to determine compliance with state laws concerning the prohibition of the sale of alcohol to youths under the age of 21,” police said in a statement.
A further 10 businesses were all found to be in compliance with regulations.
Co-owner of Lordship Wine and Liquor Amilcar Ramirez said he misread the purchaser’s date of birth when they tried to buy alcohol and the person left the store before he realized his error. He said he ran out of the store to catch up with them, but the commission agent told him the business was still in violation because they let the underage person leave the store with the alcohol.
“We just learn and we’ll do our best we can,” Ramirez said. “We’ll do our best to comply with the law.”
Ramirez said he is “constantly” telling his employees to check customer IDs, but he “blanked” this time. He also said the store is going to be installing an ID scanner to automatically read if someone is of legal drinking age.
Owners of Lordship Center Market and Wines Unlimited declined to comment, and the owners of 7-11 and M&D Convenience and Deli could not immediately be reached for comment.