The Rye Police Department confiscated 15 fake IDs and issued 22 underage drinking citations in an operation conducted on Thanksgiving Eve.
It was part of the department’s “Cops in Shops” undercover detail, where officers not wearing uniforms posed as customers or store employees to catch kids attempting to illegally purchase alcohol. The operation took place at the Chestnut Mobil gas station at 69 Theodore Fremd Ave. from 6-10 p.m. on Nov. 27.
In all, Rye police checked 60 people for proper identification while buying alcohol at the Chestnut Mobil on Thanksgiving Eve, according to the department.
Alcohol is illegal to purchase, possess, or consume for people under 21 years of age in New York state. However, there are some exceptions – including if an underage person consumes alcohol at home with their parent or guardian.
Studies show that alcohol consumption increases around the holiday season – and teenagers and young adults can be “particularly susceptible to the hazards of holiday drinking,” according to the American Psychiatric Association. That can cause young people and inexperienced drinkers to over serve themselves, which can sometimes lead to accidents and risky behaviors.
From 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, cops concentrated on monitoring the downtown area, focusing on underage drinking and bar overcrowding. During that timeframe, the department said officers patrolled in a mix of marked and unmarked police units.