A 19-year-old Centerville resident, who was not home when police first responded, was charged with the keg law violation three days later for allowing the underage consumption at her residence.
Police would not release the teens’ names before their first court dates this week.
Centerville police made 37 arrests for underage consumption in 2009, and last week’s mass arrest brought the 2010 figures to 14 citations.
“Underage drinking is done so many ways,” said Centerville crime prevention officer Matt Dunn. “It’s kids at home after school, or through a friend or adult who can get alcohol, or from parents, or a business that will sell it to them, or a party where alcohol is provided. It can be difficult to assess when so much is behind closed doors.”
Dunn said underage alcohol use is attacked on several fronts, from education programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education in fifth grade, to the involvement of the South Suburban Task Force and enforcement efforts like drunk driving checkpoints.
Centerville police also check local stores and bars to make sure they are not selling alcohol to minors. Last year’s tests showed that to be a major problem.
Dunn said when police sent a minor to buy alcohol at 18 Centerville locations in April 2009, almost half of them (eight) served the underage person, leading to criminal citations and reviews by the state liquor control board.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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