STUART— Nine out of 10 Martin County store clerks won’t sell booze to teenagers.

That is what a series of undercover sting operations conducted by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office over the last 45 days has shown. The sheriff’s office and state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco conducted three different sting operations where underage volunteers tried to buy alcohol from a combined total of 51 stores.

In all the sheriff’s office found 90 percent compliance, meaning 46 of the 51 clerks approached would not sell alcohol to the underage volunteer, according to a sheriff’s report.

In the first sting five of the 11 clerks sold alcohol and were arrested on charges of selling alcohol to an underage person. In the other two stings, on Sept. 4 and on Tuesday, none of the clerks would sell alcohol to the underage volunteers.

Martin County has been battling the problem of teen drinking for years.

Last month three teens, 18-year-old Nick Coady, 18-year-old Chris Briglio and 16-year-old Connor Graver, were killed in a car crash on Cove Road in unincorporated Martin County. Several friends of the teens have said they were drinking before the crash and Florida Highway Patrol officials have said they suspect alcohol may have played a role in the crash.

A 2006 state survey, the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, found that the rate of teenage alcohol use in Martin County was higher than the state average and had been for years. That same survey also found that 25-percent of the Martin County High School students who responded to the survey reported having engaged in “binge drinking” meaning consuming five or more drinks in one sitting. That was also higher than the state average.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Crime, Martin County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.