Crime & Safety
Businesses Cited in Joliet Tobacco Compliance Sweep
Businesses caught selling cigarettes to minors.
Four Joliet businesses were cited Tuesday for allegedly selling tobacco to minors during a compliance sweep by Joliet police.
The checks are done on a regular basis using teens under 18 who go in "undercover" to see if businesses will sell tobacco to them.
"We send in underaged teenagers who are working under close supervision by our officers," Police Chief Brian Benton said. "We do these periodically throughout the year proactively."
Benton said police checked 47 businesses for tobacco compliance on Tuesday.
"We will specifically target those that we've had probelms with in the past," Benton said. "We take it very seriously."
Four businesses were cited in the sweep, with employees receiving $150 compliance tickets:
- Arafat Hadeed, 24, of Orland Park, at Citgo, 212 S. Larkin Ave.
- William Stanfill, 28, of Woodridge, at Stang Kelly Liquors, 712 W. Jefferson
- Ravinderpal Sehota, 42, of Bolingbrook, at Marathon, 2314 Glenwood
- Mohammad R. Mirza, 43, of Bolignbrook, at Tobacco Plus, 2010 W. Jefferson
Benton said police discovered that eight additional businesses did not have current tobacco sales licenses. Those businesses will be notified of a hearing date by the City of Joliet business licensing department, he said.
Police report information is provided by local police departments. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.
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