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Police sting nets 5 stores selling alcohol to minors By JIM DAVIS Medford store clerks sold even more alcohol to underage youths working for the Medford police on Monday. Medford police used young people to try to buy alcoholic beverages from 11 convenience markets in Medford. They succeeded at five. The clerks who sold alcohol were cited with furnishing alcohol to minors, said Medford police Lt. Tim George. "I guess it's become a hard lesson for them," George said. "They need to figure it out." This was the third time in about three months that officers have used minors to buy alcohol. An 18-year-old and a 20-year-old -- volunteer community service officers -- were dressed in plain clothes and gave their true identifications with correct dates of birth when asked for ID. The sting program started in December as part of "problem-oriented policing." When Medford police used the tactic on Jan. 18, eight out of 11 clerks sold alcohol to minors. On Feb. 24, four out of nine clerks did the same. On Monday, two clerks asked for identification from the community service officers. "Even after they looked at it, they still sold it," George said. "That's just flabbergasting to me." The stores busted on Monday: Woodland Heights Market, 1501 Prune St., third offense, different clerks; K and K Food Stop, 820 S. Central Avenue, third offense, different clerks; Little Market, 523 S. Central Ave., second offense, same clerk; Quick Shop Market, 3320 N. Pacific Highway, second offense, different clerks; Spring Street Market, 1910 Spring St., first offense. George said that the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has offered employee training. After the first sting, only one person accepted the training offer. The sting will continue. "We'd rather see them comply with the law without us doing this program," George said. "It's obvious, though, that we're going to have to continue to do it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA