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Medford's alcohol sting shows results Store owner says cops unfairly target stores By JULIE SWENSEN After conducting their fourth sting operation to crack down on the illegal sales of alcohol to minors, Medford police say they're making headway. One store owner, however, says they're unfairly targeting a select group of stores. The sting operation on Wednesday saw the number of alcohol sales to minors drop to only one in eight stores. In a previous sting, nearly three-fourths of the stores involved sold alcohol to minors. "The bottom line is, we got their attention," Medford police Lt. Tim George said. But not everyone is happy with the operations. The police tactics have drawn the ire of Romie Rhodes, the owner of Quick Shop in north Medford, who says there are more effective ways for police to curb underage drinking. Rhodes, whose store was not cited this week, says the police stings are publicity stunts and that some stores are unfairly targeted. George bluntly disagreed. "My sympathy tank for the convenience store people getting cited here is on empty," he said. "It's real simple. You can't sell alcohol to people under the age of 21, period." Of the eight Medford stores checked in Wednesday's investigation, all of the clerks checked the purchaser's identification, and only one store -- the K & K Food Stop, at 1797 Merriman Road -- sold alcohol to the undercover community service officer. It was the fourth offense for the store, with four different clerks cited. The community service officer used his true identification, showing he was born in 1980. The stores that refused to sell alcohol to minors were: Woodland Heights Market, 1501 Prune Little Market, 523 S. Central Quick Shop, 3320 N. Pacific Highway Thrifty Nifty, 223 W. Jackson O.K. Market, 1202 N. Riverside Peach Street Market, 424 S. Peach Elk City Market, 3338 N. Pacific Highway George said more stings will be conducted. Rhodes, whose store has been cited three times in the previous stings, said a select number of stores have been targeted. He said he diligently tells his employees to check identification, and has fired employees who don't. He's also paid his clerks overtime to go through training. Rhodes said he has provided Medford police with surveillance photos of minors stealing beer, and got no help from them or from state liquor officials. He said an officer told him he didn't have time to look through yearbooks and track down the thieves. "We think there's more that could be done," Rhodes said. George said the police department is not seeking good publicity, but began the program because they had received complaints about teens getting alcohol from convenience stores. George said that whenever police can identify a theft suspect, they'll make an arrest. As for why police don't go to more stores, he said police have gone to convenience stores all over the city, and have hit the majority of them in Medford. George said, "I really believe we're doing everything that we can do. "We have been earnest and honest in our approach to this, and we've had community support in this project. The community thinks it's a good idea," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA