Police Cite 3 Lake Zurich Businesses for Selling Alcohol to Minors

Lake Zurich Police sent an underage, confidential informant into 15 village businesses during Lake Zurich High School Homecoming, Oct. 5. The clerks at two stores and one restaurant sold alcohol to the minor, said Lake Zurich Commander David Bradstreet. 

The individuals who sold the alcohol will have to appear in branch court, Bradstreet said. He said the reports will be forwarded to the Lake Zurich Alcohol Commission. 

The stores where violations occured were Walgreens on Route 12 and Miller Road, Lake Zurich BP at Route 12 and Honey Lake Road and Bradstreet said.

"There were instances previously where a business sold alcohol to a minor more than once and lost their licenses for a period of time," he said. Bradstreet noted that businesses were notified that the police would be conducting alcohol compliance checks. 

Sale of alcohol to a person under 21 years of age is illegal under local and State laws and is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, fine or probation.  

The program was part of an ongoing Lake County effort to promote positive practices in local businesses.

“Consistency from community to community and monitoring underage drinking issues will help us be successful in addressing this problem and saving lives. Our desire is to see 100 percent compliance, but it is refreshing to see the majority of businesses realize the seriousness of this issue and did not sell alcohol to the underage participants,” said Mundelein Police Chief Ray Rose, co-chairman of the Lake County Underage Drinking Prevention Task Force.

In addition to Lake Zurich, checks were conducted in Deerfield, Grayslake, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Buffalo Grove, Mundelein, Riverwoods, Winthrop Harbor and Zion.

Of the 118 total checks conducted in September and October in Lake County, police cited 10 stores with violations. Besides Lake Zurich, the stores were in Grayslake, Mundelein, Riverwoods and Winthrop Harbor.