A 19-year-old woman working for state police was served beer in November at the Sheetz convenience store and restaurant at 17th Street and Pleasant Valley Boulevard, a state police spokesman said Friday.
A citation for the underage sale was filed last week against Ohio Springs Inc., the Sheetz Inc.-related company that holds the beer license for the business.
“We conducted an age- compliance detail, and Sheetz was one of the places that sold to us,” Sgt. Wayne A. Bush said.
The sale comes at a time when the decision to issue Ohio Springs/Sheetz a license is under appeal before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which has yet to hear oral arguments in the case.
The violation isn’t expected to be an issue in the case or the original license transfer, Sheetz vice president and general counsel Mike Cortez said.
Sheetz investigated the reported violation and added remedial training to prevent a reoccurrence. The company also disciplined the employee who sold the beer to the underage buyer, Cortez said.
“This is a very unfortunate situation,” he said. “We take this very seriously and will redouble our efforts to make sure it does not happen again.”
Sheetz employees are trained in the Responsible Alcohol Management Program, a voluntary state program that teaches alcohol licensees and their employees about such subjects as following state liquor laws, identifying visibly intoxicated patrons and fake IDs.
Sheetz began to sell beer Feb. 1 but was stopped twice during the appeals process. The Malt Beverages Distributors Association of Pennsylvania sued to stop the Ohio Springs license from being granted.
Beer sales resumed Aug. 28 after the Supreme Court lifted a stay on the sales while it heard the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s appeal of a Commonwealth Court ruling.
The Ohio Springs citation case hasn’t been heard yet by an administrative law judge, PLCB spokesman Nick Hays said.
From the Altoona Mirror
Mirror Staff Writer Mark Leberfinger is at 946-7462.