Published October 10, 2019
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — Following a Show Cause hearing before the Select Board September 30, Convenience Plus, 7 Main St., will have its package store/wine and malt beverage license revoked for three days over the upcoming Columbus Day weekend for selling alcohol to a minor.
The store owner must turn in his liquor license to the Police Department at the end of the business day on Friday, October 11. No sales will be allowed all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday, October 12-14. He must pick the license up late Monday night or before the start of business on Tuesday prior to resuming alcohol sales.
The action stemmed from an incident that occurred on Friday, August 30 around 4:30 p.m. when North Reading police detectives were conducting underage compliance checks throughout town. During such checks, the underage person is instructed to “enter licensed retail liquor establishments in the town to attempt to purchase alcohol without providing any identification,” according to the detective’s report. And the police department puts out alerts letting business know through the media that they will be conducting spot checks.
Additionally, per ABCC guidelines, the underage person is “instructed to dress age-appropriate and to not alter their appearance to look older,” the report stated. The guidelines also prohibit the underage person from providing any false information to portray himself or herself as being 21 or older.
In this instance, the underage young man participating in the compliance check was instructed to attempt to purchase a six pack of Coors Light beer from Convenience Plus. About 10 minutes later, he left the store with the alcohol and informed the detectives that he was not asked for any ID from the male clerk, who was the only person behind the counter at the time.
From their vantage point in the parking lot, both detectives indicated that they had seen the store owner leave the premises in his car.
According to the police report, the detectives entered the store and saw one clerk behind the counter and a customer at a table. Although there was a “language barrier” they were able to obtain his identification as MD Hafijur Rahman, 42, a U.S. Permanent Resident.
A few minutes later the store owner, Mohammad Razzak, returned and the detectives informed him about what had occurred. Razzak told them he had “never had a violation and always followed the rules.” He was given the required violation notice, which he signed, and was informed of the procedure for the Show Cause hearing and that the violation would be reported to the police chief.
Razzak represented himself at the Show Cause hearing before the Select Board, which issues the liquor licenses, and was very apologetic for what had occurred. He explained that Rahman was still being trained and ordinarily he stands with him behind the counter but he had left the store for a few minutes to make a bank deposit.
“He is new and is training,” Razzak said. “I am deeply sorry we made mistake. We are very careful. Last 15 years this has not happened,” he told the board.
Razzak did state that his new employee had not yet been TIPS certified and he had been on the job for three months. Razzak was also awaiting the arrival of a new machine to check IDs.
The board members were surprised that the employee had not been TIPS trained after three months and was allowed to sell alcohol.
Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto explained to Razzak that “the board has a policy that (clerks) be trained within 30 days (of being hired) and we do notify you when we send your license renewal each year.”
“A machine that checks IDs is not any good if (the clerk) did not ask for it,” Select Board Chairwoman Kate Manupelli told Razzak.
Police Chief Michael Murphy presented his department’s case to the board and summarized the detective’s report. “The compliance check is to educate,” he said.
Also present was Drug-Free Community Grant Director Amy Luckiewicz who indicated that this is a situation in which the TIPS training grants she recently obtained could be put to use helping local businesses get themselves and their employees properly trained or re-certified.
“We are trying to get all establishments on same page,” added Murphy. “His business may not be to the standards of what some other businesses are. We are trying to get them to the higher standard.”
Manupelli said it was “a massive red flag that the moment you leave is when the violation takes place.”
Select Board member Andrew Schultz said he appreciated Razzak’s “candor” and “willingness to work with the board.” He added, “You have to understand the regulations. Please freshen up on the rules.”
Manupelli agreed. “There is no grey here… no guesswork… this is not bread and milk, it is liquor.”
In issuing the three-day suspension, the board found that a sale to a minor occurred on August 30, 2019 at Convenience Plus when the licensee had stepped away, without the purchaser being identified, and the individual was not TIPS trained within 30 days of being employed.
Two stores with suspended licenses
Convenience Plus is the second store that will not be selling alcohol over the three-day weekend. Earlier this summer, at the Route 28 Lucky Mart, 202 North St., a 19-year-old Reading youth had purchased a 12-pack of Bud Light there without showing an ID which was observed in plain view when an officer pulled him over for allegedly driving 50 mph in a 40 mph zone on Rte. 28.
The Lucky Mart clerk maintained that the youth had shown a Maine ID on several prior occasions but had not shown it that day and recalled that this ID was sophisticated enough to not be rejected by the verification machine.
