South Hadley liquor store warned over underage sales

By JAMES PENTLAND

Staff Writer

Published: 04-20-2023 8:27 AM

SOUTH HADLEY — A Newton Street liquor store has been issued a warning after police determined that it had sold alcohol to underage customers, sometimes without checking identification.

South Hadley Police said they received a tip last month from a woman who said she had seen cars full of “college kids” buying alcohol at White Wing Liquor, Gas and Convenience.

Two detectives in an unmarked car and an officer in a cruiser began surveillance of the store late on the afternoon of March 3 and observed several vehicles with occupants who appeared to be under 21 stop at the store over a 35-minute span.

The detectives spoke with the customers after they exited the store. Most acknowledged that they were underage and that they had used fake IDs to purchase alcohol, although two of them said they were not carded.

Police said most of the young people were University of Massachusetts students who said White Wing was well known as a good place for underage people to get booze.

Police confiscated the fake IDs and a large variety of alcoholic drinks, including 1.75-liter bottles of vodka and rum, wine, 30-packs of beer, 10-packs of Dr. McGillicuddy’s and 23.5-ounce cans of Four Loko, and charged eight people with being minors in possession of alcohol.

Police reported that an officer spoke with the store clerk and advised him that he had just sold alcohol to an underage person who used a fake ID.

Police Chief Jennifer Gundersen told the Select Board on Tuesday that March 3 was the date of the UMass pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebration formerly known as Blarney Blowout. She said the fake IDs that police confiscated were believable fakes, though the majority were out-of-state licenses.

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Lawyer Arthur Pearlman, representing White Wing, took no issue with the police reports, but he said store management took swift action when the problem arose. The clerk who was on that night was suspended for two weeks and retook the TIPS alcohol server and seller training, Pearlman said. Also, the store has bought a license scanner, for approximately $6,000, and has already confiscated several IDs.

Gundersen confirmed that store management had been responsive and recommended that the board issue a warning.

The Select Board is empowered to punish liquor law violations. The town’s policy guidelines suggest a warning for a first offense, a one-day license suspension for a second offense, and a three-to-seven-day suspension for a third offense.

White Wing was warned for selling alcohol to a minor in 2015. However, according to policy, “only offenses which have occurred within the five years preceding the date of violation shall be used in calculating the number of offenses for purposes of sentencing guidelines.”

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