ALGONQUIN – Three businesses were fined $1,000 on Tuesday for selling alcohol to minors during a police compliance check.
Target and Jewel-Osco, both on Randall Road in Algonquin, and Village Vintner Winery on Esplanade Drive all failed the compliance check, which took place in December.
All three pleaded guilty to the complaints. It was first offense for each business.
During the compliance check, 15 to 20 businesses in town were checked, said Algonquin Police Chief John Bucci.
Jewel-Osco and Target also were each fined an additional $500 because the employees who sold alcohol to the minor did not have the required Basic Alcohol Seller/Server Education Training certifications.
Steve Boyer, the owner of Village Vintner Winery, said the employee who sold alcohol had been frustrated with another customer when the violation took place.
The employee had to take a week off from work, Boyer said. He added that employees will be pushed to card anyone who looks younger than 50 years old.
“We watch over them constantly,” Boyer said. “Something happened that night, it’s a bad situation, she got tied up with an ornery customer and kind of lost it.”
At Jewel-Osco, employees have to be BASSET certified when they start with the business and be retrained every three years, said Constance Zaio, the company’s compliance manager.
“We apologize for being in front of you,” Zaio said.
She added there is no excuse for the failure, as the company has a system that allows cashiers to scan IDs for dates of birth.
Zaio said the employee had asked for identification, but then overrode the system. The associate was suspended for three days, Zaio added.
There were no managers who were BASSET certified when the violation took place. Zaio said it could have been because of paperwork issues as managers transfer from store to store.
Zaio added the employee was retrained, and will be attending the village's BASSET training.
Trustee Brian Dianis said he had a concern about the culture at the Jewel-Osco.
"I [want] to make sure you are pushing this store to clean up their act here," Dianis said. "Make sure it doesn't happen again."
At Target, the employee who sold the alcohol was fired, said store Human Resources Manager Mersedeh Stacks.
Because of the incident, Stacks said the store now requires anytime a driver's license isn't scanned and a date of birth is typed into a register, a supervisor has to override the process.
"This is something we're not taking lightly," Stacks said.
Dianis called the incident unfortunate, but said he liked the actions taken by Target.
"I appreciate the steps you've taken to rectify this," Dianis said.
BASSET class
The Algonquin Police Department has scheduled a Basic Alcohol Seller/Server Education Training (BASSET) class for 9 a.m. March 12. The class will teach students how to spot fake identification cards, who to serve and not serve, and state laws regarding alcohol sales, according to a news release.
The class is open to anyone age 18 and older working in the beverage industry. The deadline to register is March 9. The enrollment fee $40.
For information, call 847-658-4531.