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Round 2 of alcohol sting catches 4 napping That's fewer than sold to minors last time; police say they'll keep at it By JULIE SWENSEN Medford police officer Richard Renfro parks out of sight in a van about a block from OK Market on Riverside Avenue. He gives a few dollars to an 18-year-old community service officer, who steps out of the van and walks to the store. A few minutes later, the teen comes back with a brown paper bag containing a 40-ounce bottle of Olympia beer. He says the clerk checked his identification, which shows he was born in 1980. That means another bust in round two of a Medford police department alcohol sting. The 18-year-old community service officer walked into nine markets Wednesday and bought beer from four clerks. In the first round a month ago, eight of 11 clerks sold alcohol to the officer. Wednesday's sale at OK Market brought the clerk a $350 citation for selling the beer to a minor. "I thought after he left, `I shouldn't have sold it to him.' It's my fault," she said, adding that the store's clerks had been doing a good job in not selling alcohol to minors. "I really messed up today," she said. The nine stores police visited Wednesday were among the 11 they visited in January. Besides OK Market, which didn't sell beer to the undercover officer last month, other stores where clerks sold beer to the undercover officer Wednesday were: Minute Market, 401 S. Oakdale Ave. Woodland Heights Market, 1501 Prune St. Police busted the same clerk in last month's sting. KK Food Stop, 2797 Merriman Road. Stores that wouldn't sell to the minor were: Thrifty Nifty Market, 227 W. Jackson St. Rose Grocery, 201 W. Jackson St. Little Market, 523 S. Central Ave. Quick Shop Market, 3320 North Pacific Highway. Elk City Market, 3338 N. Pacific Highway. The Woodland Heights clerk's second citation brings a $1,000 fine. A third citation would bring a $1,000 fine and imprisonment of at least 30 days. Not just clerks are busted in the stings -- the Oregon Liquor Control Commission also cites stores. A fine for a first offense can range from $390 to $650, and a second offense can result in a fine as high as $1,950. A third offense results in a 30-day alcohol license suspension; a fourth offense in two years results in a cancellation of an alcohol license. The sting program started in December as part of "problem-oriented policing." Renfro said that in the past, if police heard a youngster was getting alcohol from a store, the clerk would be cited and it would be done. While Renfro said such stings can result in public embarrassment, the threat of fines and an employee losing his or her job, he said they also could save lives. He was hoping the first sting would have impact. But when police invited the eight stores busted in that sting to a training session ion on how to properly check for identification, no one from those stores showed up, Renfro said. Renfro said clerks never know who's going to be coming in the door wanting to buy beer, so they'd better be on their toes and checking identification. "We're just going to keep going after them until they comply," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA