Crime & Safety

Eight Businesses Busted For Serving Minors Alcohol in Sammamish and Klahanie

Forty-one percent of Sammamish businesses failed the compliance check.

Eight Sammamish and Klahanie businesses sold liquor to a minor last weekend during a Washington State Liquor Control Board sting of local businesses, according to Sammamish Police.

A team of three WSLCB employees, including two officers and a 19-year-old teenage woman, accompanied a Sammamish Police officer last Saturday, June 1 to 21 businesses in Sammamish and Klahanie. Seven businesses sold alcohol to a minor. Officers and agents watched as the teen entered the businesses, presented her actual driver’s license, which shows she was born in June, 1993. 

Ten Sammamish businesses refused to sell alcohol to the young woman, however 7 others did provide her with alcohol. The other four businesses are located in unincorporated King County in the Klahanie area, and one business there also served the minor alcohol.

The sting was conducted as part of the Sammamish Impaired Driving Education and Action (IDEA) Project; a community-wide initiative that began in January to eliminate underage impaired driving in the city.

“The IDEA Project started after we realized that 40% of our DUI arrests were youth under age 21,” said Chief of Police Nate Elledge. “We knew this was more than just an enforcement issue and the community has really stepped up to help us find solutions.”

Forty-one percent of Sammamish businesses failed the compliance check and sold alcohol to the underage woman. The following businesses failed the most recent compliance check:

  • Mongolian Grill - 22830 NE 8th St.
  • Ristorante Simone - 22850 NE 8th St.
  • August Moon - 2904 228th Ave. SE
  • Lamponi Thai - 22649 NE Inglewood Hill Rd.
  • Rite Aid - 3066 228th Ave. SE
  • Safeway – 630 228th Ave. NE
  • 7-Eleven – 3320 E. Lk. Sammamish Pkwy. SE

All but Safeway and 7-Eleven were cited a second time for the same offense when Sammamish Police conducted a similar sting in 2011.

All of the employees who sold alcohol to the minor were briefly arrested and cited for Furnishing Alcohol to Minors, a misdemeanor.  

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In all instances, no one was handcuffed and all employees arrested were processed, cited and released without interfering with normal business at each location, according to police.

"Local businesses are important partners in the effort to eliminate underage impaired driving," said Sammamish Police Sgt. Jessica Sullivan. She said the majority of businesses checked did successfully pass the compliance check, and should be congratulated for their efforts

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The following Sammamish businesses successfully checked the ID and refused sale of alcohol to a minor during the sting:

  • 76 Gas Station - 740 228th Ave. NE
  • MOD Pizza - 720 228th Ave. NE
  • Bartell Drug - 526 228th Ave. NE
  • Spirit & Wine - 510 228th Ave. NE
  • Pine Lake Ale House - 640 228th Ave. NE
  • Plateau Shell - 22631 NE Inglewood Hill RD
  • Jackson Shell - 2936 228th Ave. SE
  • Pine Lake QFC - 2902 228th Ave. SE
  • Chevron Brown Bear - 3050 228th Ave. SE
  • La Casita - 3066 Issaquah Pine Lake Rd. SE

The Washington State Liquor Control Board will follow up with the business owners and managers regarding the status of the liquor licenses and work with them to improve their employee training programs.



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