HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC SERVICES SECTION
SERGEANT RANDY APELE
PHONE: 961-2305
MARCH 5, 2001MEDIA RELEASE
Six persons were arrested for eight liquor law offenses Friday night (March 2, 2001) in a crackdown on underage and public drinking in Hilo.
A special crime reduction unit comprised Juvenile Aid and Traffic Enforcement Unit officers arrested a 21-year-old female in the parking lot of a Hilo liquor store after she bought alcohol and provided it to four young adults under the legal drinking age of 21. One of the four adults was also arrested for drinking in public when he was found with an open beer bottle.
In a separate incident, a juvenile male was arrested on two counts of liquor violations on Mamaki Street in Hilo.
Sergeant Randy Apele of the Traffic Services Section said it is common for juveniles and young adults under the age of 21 to wait in store parking lots and ask legal aged adults to purchase alcohol for them.
“The practice is called a ‘tap-shoulder,'” Apele said. “Adults who purchase liquor for under-aged drinkers are usually given money in return for the favor.”
State law prohibits adults from buying liquor for minors. Violators may be imprisoned for up to six months or fined up to $1,000.
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