Teen Alcohol Sting Ends with Arrest of Four

Story courtesy of Carl Baker, spokesman for the City of Redlands

Four men were cited after buying alcohol for teen-age Redlands Police volunteers Wednesday.

The volunteers approached people outside several local businesses. The enforcement effort, known as a “shoulder tap operation,” was part of a $23,714 grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, two volunteers, a 19-year-old female and an 18-year-old male, accompanied by a Redlands Police officer, stood outside local businesses on Colton Avenue, Orange Street and Redlands Boulevard and offered to give people entering the stores money to buy beer.

Police cited known transients 54-year-old David Molina Mendiola, 56-year-old David Bruce Foster, and 45-year-old Kenneth Garland Sutton; and 20-year-old Armando Tony Ramirez, of Redlands, after each of them provided beer for the teens. Sutton was also arrested for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. The beer was returned to the businesses for a refund.

On July 2 the Redlands City Council approved the $23,714 grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for the Redlands Police Department to conduct undercover and decoy operations targeting businesses and individuals who provide or serve alcohol to minors, businesses that over-serve alcohol or provide narcotics and use of false identifications as well as education efforts for local high schools and the University of Redlands.

The Police Department periodically conducts minor decoy operations; “shoulder tap” operations, in which minors outside a business ask people to purchase alcohol for them; as well as other undercover operations and inspections. 

The grant will also fund educational efforts at local schools. The grant funding runs until June 30, 2014, and covers officer overtime and equipment purchases.