FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: Cathedral City Police (760) 770-0300
Issuing Employee: Sergeant Nick Chapman – 760-202-2487 – nchapman@cathedralcity.gov
Type of Case: Sales of Alcohol to Minor / Case #1902C-5961
Date/Time Reported: February 27, 2019 / 3:16 PM
Location of Occurrence: Mobil, 34021 Date Palm Drive, Cathedral City
The Cathedral City Police Department Special Operation Section along with agents from California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) have arrested an adult female for selling alcohol to a minor on February 27, 2019. The actions were the result of a minor decoy operation in which minors under the direct supervision of department agents, attempted to purchase alcohol from several retail licensees in the City of Cathedral City.
Elizabeth Seamore (35, of Palm Springs) was arrested after completing the act of selling to a minor while working in the capacity of a clerk at the Mobil located at 34021 Date Palm Dr. Seamore was on active CDCR parole at the time of the arrest and therefore accrued the additional charge of a parole violation. She was subsequently booked at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Those who sold to the minor face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC will take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage license of the business where alcohol was sold to a minor. That may include a fine, a suspension of the license, or the permanent revocation of the license.
ABC is conducting the compliance checks statewide to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. Statistics have shown that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the general adult population.
Minor Decoy operations have been conducted by local law enforcement throughout the state since the 1980’s. When the program first began, the violation rate of retail establishments selling to minors was as high as 40 to 50 percent. When conducted on a routine basis, the rate has dropped in some cities as low as 10 percent. In 1994, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that use of underage decoys is a valid tool of law enforcement to ensure that licensees are complying with the law.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) through the department’s Grant Assistance Program.
ABC is a State of California, Department of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency.