MORENO VALLEY – Two men and three women were cited for buying alcohol for minors or for selling it to minors.
In an effort to curtail the illegal purchase of alcohol by area minors and to discourage underage drinking, on Friday, August 7, between 6:00-11:00 PM, the Moreno Valley Police Department’s Problem Oriented Policing Team (POP) conducted a Shoulder Tap/Minor Decoy program. Officers targeted seven off-sale convenience liquor stores in Moreno Valley.
According to a press release from the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, two adults were cited for agreeing to purchase alcohol for an underage decoy. Angelina Mejia of Sun City and Marlon Bridges of Moreno Valley took the bait and received citations. Bridges was also arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for a felony violation of parole warrant.
During the operation one male and two female store clerks also reportedly sold alcohol to the minor decoys at several different convenience liquor stores in Moreno Valley. The suspects were reported to be Jose Perez of Perris, Baljinder Kaur of Moreno Valley, and Unicque Coutee, of San Bernardino. After the suspects were issued citations, they were released with a written notice to appear in court on the charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
This program has been ongoing in Moreno Valley and is part of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Minor Decoy/Shoulder Tap Program, which is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
