Underage shoulder tap operation yields one arrest
–On June 22, between the hours of 5-9 p.m., the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office’s Alcohol Compliance Team (ACT) operated a California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) grant funded shoulder tap operation in the Los Osos and Cayucos areas. The “Decoy Shoulder Tap Program” is an enforcement operation that utilizes minor decoys to solicit customers to purchase alcoholic beverages on their behalf. This program results in the identification of persons who furnish alcoholic beverages to minors outside ABC licensed establishments.
If furnishing alcohol to the minor decoy takes place, a team of deputy sheriffs specifically trained in ABC enforcement programs respond immediately to detain and arrest those responsible for the violation.
At 7:49 p.m., the ACT team arrested one person near a retail location in Los Osos for furnishing alcoholic beverages to a minor. During the operation, people in front of three retail locations in Cayucos and Los Osos were approached by a decoy with a request to purchase alcoholic beverage(s). All responsibly declined except for 42-year-old Deborah Ann Skelton who was captured during the sting operation.
Skelton was released on her signed promise to appear (citation) and will be charged through the District Attorney’s Office for illegally furnishing alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor. The Sheriff’s Office will be continuing ABC grant funded operations through June 30, 2017. Ongoing programs include minor decoy deployment, shoulder tap operations, on-sale and off-sale licensee monitoring, and false identification detection operations.
