Date: September 18, 2002
Contact:
Renee Hoffman
CCPS Public Affairs Director
(919) 733-5027
(ext. 231)
| For Release: Immediate
Date: September 18, 2002 |
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Contact:
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ALE AND MARION POLICE TO CONDUCT UNDERAGE DRINKING CAMPAIGN IN MCDOWELL COUNTY |
ASHEVILLE - N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents and the Marion Police Department will conduct a Cops-N-Shops operation at Alcohol Beverage Control licensed establishments in Marion, N.C. on Thursday, September 19, 2002. The operation is an effort to deter underage possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages following a serious traffic accident in the county last month.
On Saturday, August 17, 2002, at approximately 3:00 a.m., a single car accident occurred on Burma Road in McDowell County involving Natacha Freshour, age 19, and Jayme Wyatt, age 16, both of Marion. Freshour was driving the vehicle and Wyatt was a passenger. Freshour was transported by ambulance to Memorial Mission Hospital, Asheville, where she was admitted with serious injuries. Wyatt was transported by ambulance to McDowell County Hospital, Marion, where she was admitted with serious injuries.
North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper D.K. Hensley investigated the crash and found evidence that both girls, who were less than 21 years of age, had been consuming alcoholic beverages prior to the accident. The trooper charged Freshour with DWI and notified Alcohol Law Enforcement's district office in Asheville for an investigation into how and where the girls had obtained alcoholic beverages.
ALE Agent John M. Pace conducted an investigation which revealed that the girls had been given a twelve pack of beer at approximately 9:00 p.m., on August 16, 2002, while at Wyatt's residence, located at 490 Old Linville Road, Marion. The alcohol came from Wyatt's brother, Michael Ray Wyatt, age 25. Agent Pace charged Michael Wyatt with two counts of giving malt beverages to a person less than 21 years of age.
The Cops-In-Shops operation will be done in an effort to deter underage possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages. ALE Agents will be working undercover in and around these premises in order to increase public safety by identifying and enforcing alcohol violations, underage possession, and other criminal acts observed to be occurring.
Alcohol Law Enforcement will also conduct undercover minor compliance checks at ABC licensed establishments in McDowell County within the next 60 days to encourage establishments and their employees to check customer's identifications when purchasing alcohol and tobacco products.
ALE and the Highway Patrol are Divisions of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. ALE's mission is consistent statewide enforcement, education, and control of the legal and illegal sale, consumption, distribution, and transportation of alcohol with special attention directed towards the possession and use of alcohol by underage persons, and the prevention of violent crime due to alcohol and drug abuse. The Highway Patrol's mission is to ensure safe, efficient transportation on our streets and highways, reduce crime, and respond to natural and manmade disasters.
For more information on the Cops-In-Shops operation, please contact the ALE district office in Asheville at (828) 298 - 4880.
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