A trio of local clerks were charged over the weekend following a joint operation between the Marysville Division of Police, the Union County Mental Health and Recovery Board and the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Ohio Investigative Unit.
According to police records, Brianna Nikole Moore, 24, of Stocksdale Drive, Donna Holbrook, 49, of W. Fifth St. and Ankur D. Danak, 32, of Powell, were each cited with sale of liquor to an underage person, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Deputy Chief Tony Brooks, with the Marysville Police Department, said that Friday, officials went to 11 local businesses. OIU provided an agent as well as an underage confidential informant. He said the local businesses to be checked were selected “based on information they (OIU) have received or we have received about underage sales or overserving.”
He said agents found violations at three businesses.
Moore is an employee at Old Bag of Nails on E. Fifth St. Holbrook is an employee at Dollar General on Eighth St. Danak is an employee at MVP Food Mart on Route 31. The liquor permit holders could face administrative penalties including fines, suspension or revocation of the liquor permit. An administrative case will be presented to the Ohio Liquor Control Commission for consideration of sanctions.
According to OIU, liquor permit holders “must put their safety first by discouraging excessive consumption of alcohol and not serving intoxicated individuals.”
In a statement earlier this year, Enforcement Commander Eric Wolf said ensuring patrons are safe should be “of utmost importance” and that while there is a component of personal responsibility, liquor permit holders also have a responsibility to not serve anyone who is intoxicated.
He added that “patron safety starts with vigilant staff.”
Brooks said compliance checks are done periodically “to try to reduce the number of sales to underage individuals.”
He said that in a recent community health assessment, “binge drinking was identified as one of the things that is adversely affecting the juvenile population in our community.”
Brooks explained, “There is a reason it is illegal to serve, sell or furnish alcohol to someone who is intoxicated and anyone who has not turned 21.”
He said brains are not fully formed in juveniles. Immature brains are more likely to make poor decisions, “and when you add alcohol to an underdeveloped brain, they are even more likely to make bad decisions.”