LOS ANGELES -  On December 28, 2017, ABC agents from the Van Nuys District posted a 25-day Notice of Suspension at the Agua Dulce General Store following a Target Responsibility for Alcohol-Connected Emergencies (TRACE) investigation.

Through their investigation, ABC agents determined that on January 28, 2017, a clerk sold vodka to two teenagers, 16 and 18 years old.  The teenagers, both female, drank the alcoholic beverage that night and were involved in a single vehicle traffic crash that caused great bodily injury to the driver.

“The accident involving teenagers who had been drinking is a driving force behind the work that ABC agents do,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  “Agents work daily, nightly, on holidays and weekends, to prevent, among other things, under-age drinking.  To many tragedies result from intoxicated young people who never should have been drinking alcoholic beverages in the first place.”

ABC Van Nuys agents obtained California Highway Patrol (CHP) reports with details on the crash and opened a TRACE investigation.   Agents visited the facility where the vehicle involved in the crash was being stored and found the vodka bottle and determined it was purchased from the Agua Dulce General Store. ABC concluded the investigation by filing an accusation against the store for selling alcohol to a minor resulting in great bodily injury.