RED BLUFF – On February 20, 2026, the Red Bluff Police Department, in partnership with agents from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), conducted a minor decoy operation within the City of Red Bluff.

During the operation, a decoy under the age of 21 attempted to purchase alcohol at 16 businesses. During the visits, a store clerk at a CVS Pharmacy, located at 455 S. Main Street, allowed the transaction.

Store employees who sell alcohol to a minor face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC may take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage license of the business where alcohol was sold to a minor. That action may include a fine, a suspension or the permanent revocation of the license. The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.

ABC is conducting compliance checks statewide to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. Statistics have shown that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the general adult population.

“It is our hope that clerks and servers always check IDs, but that, as this operation demonstrated, doesn’t always happen.  It’s important that California ABC agents and their local law enforcement partners conduct these operations, in order to keep all of us safe while on the roads and in our communities,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.