Full Notification

On Friday evening, March 28th, at approximately 11:30 P.M., Officer Rick Rodden, from the Columbia Township Police Department, responded to Nite Crawlers, at Jefferson Road and Ocean Beach Road, following up on a complaint of minors being served alcohol there.

The original complaint was received by the Liquor Control Commission, which was then forwarded on to the Columbia Township Police Department for investigation. The information received was that the establishment was regularly allowing the sale of alcohol to minors (18-20).

On Friday evening, Officer Rodden utilized a “decoy”, with directions to attempt to purchase alcohol, and if asked, to present their Michigan Driver’s License. It is worth noting that for Michigan drivers under the age of 21, the drivers license is issued in a “vertical” format, for the specific purpose of retailers knowing the person is NOT yet 21 years of age. The words “under 21” also appear on the license.

In this instance, the decoy ordered a beer, and when requested, produced his Michigan license, which the employee looked at, and then handed back. He was then given the beer that he ordered.

The decoy was an 18 year old male. The employee was a 63 year old female. The employee was cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor, and the establishment is being cited for the Liquor Control Commission violation.

It is noteworthy to mention that at least once yearly, the Columbia Township Police Department utilizes a decoy to check for compliance with all local alcohol retailers. Those compliance checks will be occurring over the next several months, and retailers are reminded to not only check the identification of those purchasing alcohol when their age may be in question, but to also recognize the vertical license means they are under 21.