GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) -
Customers go in and out of the Sunoco gas station off Poinsett Highway in Greenville County.
"I'm only 20 and I want a six pack of Bud Light, can y'all help me out?" an undercover informant asked.
The informant is working with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office as a part of their crackdown on underage drinking.
Customer: "I'll do it for a couple of dollars."
The 20-year-old is part of an undercover crackdown to help stop the sale and purchase of alcohol to those under 21 years old.
On Monday, FOX Carolina went undercover too and caught several customers on tape. One guy went into the store and deputies said he bought the girl beer.
Informant: "Hey, thank you."
So, investigators moved in and wrote him a ticket and it wasn't long before the informant met another customer.
Informant: "If you'll just go get it and bring it around to me."
First, the potential customer he told the informant he was busy.
Customer: "Any other time it would be Gucci, but I just want to get gas."
Informant: "OK."
Then, he changed his mind. Investigators said he bought a six pack for the informant and they wrote him a $675 ticket. Before the customer left, he had a message for kids.
"Kids, don't talk to strangers, even when you come in the door. Mind your own business, keep it moving when strangers talk to you," he said.
Not everyone said yes to the informant.
Customer: "No, he said you need ID."
Informant: "OK, thank you."
But investigators said the customer got tipped off by another man who told the customer not to buy the beer. So, he ended up with a ticket instead for interfering with police.
"A lot of times they don't know exactly what their part is in keeping people who are not 21 years old from being able to drink," said Lt. Mike Moore.
Moore said the compliance checks are to help save lives.
"We want to reduce the number of underage drinkers we have, which will in turn reduce the number of underage drinking fatalities we have," said Moore.
As of 11 p.m. on Monday, deputies said they wrote five tickets for the transfer of alcohol to a minor. They wrote six tickets to clerks for the sale of alcohol to a minor.
Deputies said one person got a ticket for interfering with police and another customer got a ticket for having a suspended driver's license while on probation. Investigators said that man went to jail because he was driving a stolen car.
Copyright 2012 FOX Carolina (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Deputies take a six-pack of beer bought for an underage informant Monday. (June 18, 2012/FOX Carolina)
