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Trap Door Triggered on Under-Age Drinking

Sheriff’s Deputies, working with local drinking establishments, have sprung a trap door on under-aged people with fake IDs.
Termed, “Operation Trap Door,” on March 10-11 from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., the Sheriff’s “Alcohol Compliance Team” along with the State Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) conducted a sting seeking to find people using fake IDs to buy and consume alcohol.
“The program,” Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said, “dubbed ‘Operation Trap Door’ coordinates with on-sale licensed alcohol establishments to notify law enforcement upon detection of false ID presentation.
“Once notified, a team of deputy sheriffs specifically trained in ABC enforcement programs responds immediately to detain and arrest those in possession of false ID.”
Deputies arrested three women and one man, for alleged possession of false identification during separate incidents at Downtown San Luis Obispo restaurants and bars, Cipolla said. “One arrest was at a restaurant following false ID presentation at the time of meal ordering, the other three arrests resulted from false ID presentation at nightclub establishments during the operational time frame.”
Cipolla said two other fake IDs were confiscated by participating establishments and turned over to deputies.
The scofflaws that were caught were cite-released and will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office for violation of Business & Professions Code No. 25661(a), said Cipolla.
People cited in this operation were a 20-year-old man from Patterson; two 20-year-old women from SLO; and an 18-year-old woman from Pacific Grove.
As a college town, SLO is no stranger to young people using fake IDs, which Cipolla said, “includes counterfeit and altered IDs, as well as IDs that are real, but borrowed from another person. Young people easily obtain false ID through various sources increasing the need for enhanced enforcement efforts aimed at curbing illegal ID possession and access to alcohol.”
Some bars post the IDs on the walls, in a sort-of “hall of shame.”
Police and alcohol sellers have reported that fake IDs significantly contribute to under-aged drinking and alcohol possession.
Cipolla said the Sheriff’s Office plans to continue with Operation Trap Door through June 30, paying for it with a grant from ABC, part of a number of operations designed to cut under-aged drinking. Others are minor decoy deployment, shoulder tap operations, on-sale and off-sale licensee monitoring, and further Operation Trap Door efforts in coordination with local merchants.

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