On April 24, 2012 between 5:00-10:00 pm, Santa Cruz Police
Department alcohol unit officers and state Alcoholic Beverage Control officers participated
in a shoulder tap alcohol enforcement operation. A minor decoy stood outside of
eight businesses that sell alcohol and tried to get adults to purchase alcohol.
In all, sixty-five patrons were approached by the decoy and four people were
cited for purchasing alcohol. One additional subject was arrested for public
intoxication and for theft of the money provided to him by the minor decoy.
The arrestee, Michael Robinson, a 42 year-old Santa Cruz
resident, had agreed to purchase alcohol for the decoy. However, he instead
left the store (in the 600 block of Front Street) without purchasing the
alcohol or returning the money to the decoy. He was stopped in the store’s
parking lot (near the river levee) by Santa Cruz Police Department officers and
arrested for petty theft (of the money) and public intoxication. The money was
recovered.
Funding for these operations comes from a state ABC grant.
