Liquor, Tobacco Compliance Sweep Nets Two Arrests

A sweep of Romeoville bars, liquor stores and gas stations showed most businesses are compliant with the law when it comes to not selling alcohol or tobacco to minors.

Minors went undercover to bars and shops, attempting to buy cigarettes and liquor. The sweep netted just two arrests after employees at the HighPoint Cigar Shop, 68 S. Weber Rd., and the at 418 N. Weber Rd., were caught selling tobacco to teens, .

Cigar shop employee Uthman Ibrahim, 21, of the 1400 block of Garavogue Avenue, Orland Park, was arrested April 5, and BP staffer Darcell Watson, 46, of the 21000 block of West Creston Court, Plainfield, was arrested April 6. Both were charged with selling tobacco products to a minor.

“Out of all the places we checked, those were the only places who sold cigarettes [to a minor],” Assistant Chief Steve Lucchesi said, “and nobody sold alcohol.”

Lucchesi said the police use minors acting undercover to conduct periodic compliance checks.

“What we do a couple times a year is, we send people out who are underage to purchase alcohol and/or cigarettes,” he said, adding that the result of the most recent sweep is good news for Romeoville. “The majority of [businesses] are following the law, and that’s what we want.”