The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Cigarette vendors pass the test…
No one will argue it is busy out in the bars of Crested Butte. But apparently a few bartenders feel it is too busy to card some of the young patrons. Colorado liquor enforcement officers were in town last week and tested five establishments with an undercover sting operation. Four of the establishments failed.
The officers of the state Department of Revenue set up two sting operations in Crested Butte in the middle of last week. The first sent a boy under 18 years of age into local businesses that sell cigarettes on Wednesday, July 10. The underage boy was not sold tobacco products by any local establishment.
The next day, the Colorado officers sent in a 20-year-old female to four bars and one liquor store in Crested Butte. Four of the businesses sold the girl alcohol. The Smokehouse, the Secret Stash, the Eldo and Wine House all sold the woman alcohol without asking her for an I.D. Only the Brick Oven passed the sting by carding the woman and not serving her.
“I spoke with the girl after the operation and she definitely looked an age that should have required her to show an I.D.,” said Crested Butte Chief Marshal Tom Martin. “She looked like she could have been a senior in high school or maybe 22 years old. She certainly didn’t look 30.”
Typically, the person who served the underage patron is fined and the establishment is cited and faces a five-day suspension of its liquor license. A fine in lieu of the suspension can be paid as an alternative. The fine is based on a percentage of sales in the month the citation was issued. The suspension too must be served during a time comparable to when the violation occurred. Don’t expect the bar to voluntarily serve its suspension in late April.
