The Kroger parking on a Friday night can be an interesting scene for both underaged students, their alcohol hookups, and undercover agents.
When you’re walking back to your car in the parking lot of the Kroger on East State Street, a case of beer in each hand, don’t be too surprised if an undercover agent is waiting for you.
Though the Athens Police Department doesn’t patrol “plain-clothed” officers at alcohol vendors anymore, officials are quick to assure that the Ohio Investigative Unit is covering all of the popular liquor vendor bases, looking for any signs of someone 21 or older helping a minor obtain alcohol.
“The strange thing is that people are invisible to their surroundings,” APD Captain Ralph Harvey said. “Even if you’re a marked officer, sitting in a marked patrol car — you’ll see these things happen.”
APD previously patrolled undercover officers at popular alcohol vendors a few years ago when they were receiving additional funding to combat underage drinking from a “Habits” grant, but now only increase patrolling if they hear a specific complaint on one location. They still have four plain-clothed officers, however, who could address these complaints.
Eric Wolf, the agent in charge of administration for the OIU, wasn’t willing to disclose exactly how many plain-clothed officers are patrolling Athens per weekend, or where they typically stop. However, he did note that agents usually work in pairs Thursday through Saturday, wherever they suspect underagers are receiving alcohol.
“A lot of our enforcement efforts are targeted where local law enforcement agencies are hearing complaints,” Wolf said. “We patrol there unless there is an event like a concert or festival in town. If that’s the case, we’ll be hitting everything. If they have a liquor permit, we’ll be there.”
When patrolling, agents will look for a myriad of signs that could lead them to suspect that whoever is purchasing alcohol is doing so to aid a minor. For the most part, a transaction of money in the parking lot between four or five students is a fair reason to follow the purchaser inside the vendor.
Agents will then observe what the purchaser does when inside — beeline for the liquor section, or carry on with their regular grocery shopping and maybe pick up some alcohol along the side. Someone who is on his or her own, but purchases a large amount of alcohol, is a usual suspect.
“We might stop them right as they’re about to leave the parking lot,” Wolf said. “Right when everyone takes the alcohol and separates.”
Kroger employees aren’t aware of the OIU’s presence when they arrive, Ernie North, manager at Kroger at 919 E. State St., said. He mentioned that Friday nights are typically a little bit busier than Saturdays.
“It’s generally pretty calm, you might have an incident now and then but it’s very rare,” North said, though he added that alcohol sales increase those nights.
Tyler Thompson, a senior studying communication sciences and disorders at OU, said that he typically has to wait in a long line when he hits Kroger on a Friday night. He wasn’t aware that undercover agents had ever patrolled the area.
“People are usually buying more than just one bottle, so it’s obviously for more than one person,” Thompson said.
Most alcohol-related violations involving minors are first degree misdemeanors, Wolf said, though officers won’t arrest the offender unless they refuse to give information. Typically, they’ll just sign an agreement to appear in court and be released. Anyone the agent can positively say contributed money to the alcohol purchase will be charged.
“I’m watching for a whole litany of things,” Harvey said. “Like a whole car full of people, but only one person gets out of the car. A reasonable person would conclude that something is up there.”
@eockerman
e0300813@ohio.edu
