Five store clerks arrested, charged with selling alcohol to minors, Suffolk cops say
Suffolk police arrested five people Sunday on charges of selling alcohol to minors at several convenience stores and supermarkets in Rocky Point, Middle Island, Ridge and Sound Beach.
Seventh Precinct officers conducted a sting at 11 locations. Five of the stores were found to be in violation of the law, and store clerks were arrested and charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child, police said.
Among the store employees arrested were two minors, ages 16 and 17, police said. One of the minors agreed to sell alcohol to an underage customer at a Key Food supermarket in Middle Island at 868 Middle Country Rd., and the second minor did the same at a Handy Pantry, located at 280 Echo Ave. in Sound Beach, police said.
Other arrests in the sting included two Rocky Point store clerks: Satyashivkumar Patel, 29, an employee of Gas Plus, located at 613 Route 25A, and Matthew B. Dozier, 21, an employee of Handy Pantry, located at 684 Route 25A.
Chitra B. Khatri, 36, an employee of a BP gas station at 1470 Middle Country Rd. in Ridge, also was arrested.
All five employees were issued field appearance tickets. They are scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
