Crime & Safety
Quest for Booze on Martha's Vineyard Lands Young Visitors in Court
Among the under-21 suspects is a Japanese woman who, less than a month after her 19th birthday, was arrested at an Edgartown package store where she pretended not to understand English until after she was taken into custody, police say.
More than a dozen would-be underage drinkers wound up in Edgartown District Court last week after they were accused of attempting to buy or order alcohol on the Vineyard using fake I.D. cards.
Among the under-21 suspects is a Japanese woman who, less than a month after her 19th birthday, was arrested at an Edgartown package store where she pretended not to understand English until after she was taken into custody, according to police.
The other underage suspects were evenly divided between men and women, all from off-Island and most from Massachusetts.
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Under normal court procedure, they will be eligible for diversion programs that, if successfully completed, will allow them to have the charges dropped from their records.
The list of arrests for misusing a liquor I.D. spikes every summer, as underage Island visitors seek to party during their time on the Vineyard.
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Technology is against them: Modern I.D.-scanning machines installed in alcohol-serving restaurants and stores in the Vineyard’s “wet towns” are designed to alert staff when a fake identification card has been presented.
At Our Market in Oak Bluffs and Your Market in Edgartown, a “wall of shame” displays fake I.D.s seized by store staff using the machine or their own powers of observation.
The popular Sand Bar in Oak Bluffs calls police whenever a fake I.D. is presented, posting on Facebook "Thanks OBPD for getting here so fast when we call you!"
Selling liquor to a minor is a crime in all 50 states and carries penalties that are much stiffer than those for being a minor in possession of alcohol: A store can pay heavy fines or even have its license revoked if it is found to be selling alcoholic beverages to customers under 21.
“They’re trying to put me out of business,” said one Edgartown package store owner.
What’s the solution? Is this a permanent problem? Tell us in the comments.
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