Santa Maria police arrest three for buying alcohol for a minor

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Santa Maria Police Department conducted an Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) "Shoulder Tap" operation at establishments throughout Santa Maria.

During the "Shoulder Tap" operation, a minor decoy under direct supervision of officers attempts to get a person from the community to purchase an alcoholic beverage for them from a nearby store.

On Saturday, police employed this operation at three different locations. Police report that out of 13 individuals contacted, three purchased an alcoholic beverage for the minor decoy.

Those three suspects were contacted by police and arrested on charges of furnishing an alcoholic beverage for a minor.

Officers report that, during the operation, one subject was found to have a felony warrant and was arrested and booked, a second subject was found to have a misdemeanor warrant and was arrested and booked and two more subjects were cited for driving without a driver's license.

The Santa Maria Police Department said these programs are intended to reduce the availability of alcoholic beverages to minors. They said statistics show that teens have a higher rate of drunken driving crashes than adults, adding to their commitment to preventing those incidents.