Clerk charged with selling booze to minors

Huntley police said they arrested a liquor store clerk Saturday after he sold alcohol to seven minors during a two-hour stretch.

Sumit J. Patel of 1756 Bradford Lane in Crystal Lake was charged with four counts of selling alcoholic beverages to minors.

The arrest was the fourth case of a Huntley liquor store selling alcohol to minors since November, police said.

Before that, the village had no incidents for five to six years despite regular compliance checks, Police Chief John Perkins said.

The latest arrest came after numerous complaints about the store, Huntley Food and Liquor at 10729 Dundee Road, were filed during the past two months, police said.

A plainclothes officer stationed at the store Saturday night stopped patrons leaving the store who appeared underage a few blocks away, police said.

Police charged seven youths between 15 and 19 years of age with underage possession of alcohol. Only two were from Huntley. The rest were from Crystal Lake, Cary, Lake in the Hills and St. Charles, police said.

The teenagers told police the store was known as one of the places where minors could score alcohol easily, Perkins said.

"He's not even checking," Perkins said of Patel, the clerk. "The one person he did ask for an ID card, the kid gave him a high school ID card, and he accepted it."

After the fourth incident Saturday, at 9:50 p.m., police arrested Patel. Because he was the only employee there, Patel had to close the store. He was released after posting $400 bond and was given a March 24 court date.

The charges will be forwarded to Huntley's liquor commission , which may take further action against the store, Perkins said.

The police chief said he thinks lax carding is to blame for the recent increase in alcohol sales to minors.

"It's four (incidents since November), but to me it's an indication that we have to do some additional training for clerks and bartenders," Perkins said.