The Select Board voted 4-0 on July 20 to suspend alcohol sales at Wayland Variety & Deli, 770 Boston Post Road, for a full Friday-Sunday weekend after a June 4 compliance sting caught the store selling beer to a 19-year-old without checking identification.
The infraction was the business’s fourth such violation in 14 years.
Acting Police Chief Mark Hebert told the board that the cashier on duty when the controlled purchase was made “repeatedly stated, he’s over 18, he’s over 18,” without asking the underage operative for identification. A compliance operative purchased a six-pack of Budweiser at the Boston Post Road store.
Owner Pankaj Patel apologized at the board hearing and said two employees have since completed TIPS — Training for Intervention ProcedureS — alcohol service certification.
The board ordered the suspension to be served by the end of August and extended the store’s probationary period to two years.
Board member Christopher Reynolds addressed Patel directly. “I look forward to seeing you in your store and not on this screen again,” Reynolds said.
The suspension was to be completed by Aug. 31. Any further violation during the two-year probation period would return the matter to the Select Board, which holds authority over the store’s all-alcoholic-beverages license.
