The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Alcohol Enforcement Unit recently conducted a series of alcohol compliance checks at 12 businesses in northern and central St. Mary’s County. Eleven of the establishments were found to be compliant, while one business failed to ask an underage person for identification.
The covert compliance checks were conducted on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, starting at 3 pm, utilizing an underage individual. The 19-year-old was wearing plain clothes, carried no identification and was directed to enter each establishment to order or retrieve an alcoholic beverage, in an effort to make a purchase.
Of the 12 businesses visited, 11 (92 percent) were found in compliance with Maryland law and required identification from the underage person. One business failed to ask for identification or failed to corroborate the person’s age and the underage individual was able to purchase an alcoholic beverage underage.
The businesses found in compliance were: Big Dogs’ Paradise in Mechanicsville; Capt. Sam’s in Bushwood; Cooks Liquor in Hollywood; DJ’s One Stop Shop in Mechanicsville; Fred’s Liquor in Charlotte Hall; Lighthouse in Charlotte Hall; Race-N In in Budds Creek; St. Mary’s Gas Station in Clements; Third Base Store in Loveville; Village Liquors in Chaptico and Vino 2 Wine & Liquor in Charlotte Hall.
The one business that failed the compliance check was Chaptico Market in Chaptico.
The alcohol violation report was forwarded to the St. Mary’s County Alcohol Beverage Board for review.