5 stores punished after underage beer sales sting in Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Jackson Beer Board handed down punishments Thursday for five local businesses accused of selling alcohol to a minor. The board met with representatives from each business.

“The beer board takes underage beer sales very seriously,” Jackson Beer Board Chairman Charles Rahm said. “It’s not something that we’re going to tolerate.”

The city said the Shell on Oil Well Road, the Exxon on Channing Way, and three Dollar General stores located on Kenworth Boulevard, Old Hickory Boulevard and North Parkway all sold beer to a minor during an undercover operation in September.

“Twenty-six properly ID’d and refused to sell, five didn’t,” Jackson City Attorney Lewis Cobb said.

The board suspended Exxon’s beer license for 30 days because Rahm said it is their second offense. The Shell and all three Dollar General stores must pay a $1,500 fine within seven days or lose their license for 30 days, because the board said it is their first offense.

Cobb said it is unusual three Dollar General stores got caught the same night. “Some sort of failure occurred,” he said. “We don’t know exactly whether it was human error or a computer error.”

The city said clerks at Exxon and all three Dollar General stores checked the person’s ID but sold anyway. The city said the clerk at Shell did not check the ID.

“There will be consequences and sometimes severe consequences when it’s a second and third offense,” Rahm said.

The board also approved a beer permit Thursday for a new sports bar opening on Vann Drive in north Jackson.