The Schottenstein Center and other local venues were cited for selling alcohol to people under the age of 21 last weekend.
The Ohio Investigative Unit of the Columbus Division of Police cited vendors using the STOP program, which stands for stopping teens' opportunities to purchase. Through the program, police use confidential informants — ages 16 to 19 — who try to purchase alcohol using their own identification. Most of the informants are acquaintances or relatives of the police officers, said Julie Ehrhart of the Investigative Unit.
Police found three servers selling alcohol to informants at the Schottenstein Center on Feb. 9 during the Monster Truck Event, Ehrhart said.
"This is the first time we've been cited in our three years of being open," said Mike Jatto, the director of events and administration for the Schottenstein Center. Ehrhart said this is the first time the STOP program targeted the Schottenstein Center, but they have had liquor control at events before.
The informants — ages 18 and 19 in this case — attempted to purchase alcohol from three bars in the arena. Out of the five, two did not serve the teens, two of the employees checked IDs and sold them alcohol anyway and one server did not check for an ID.
The employees were all parents raising money for local baseball, softball and cheerleading teams, said Kim Lossing, the general manager of Sodexho, the food service for the Schottenstein Center.
Sodexho is responsible for training its personnel to check IDs and look for signs of impairment when serving. They are trained under the Techniques Effective for Alcohol Management program. With the TEAM training program, employees even have to wear buttons displaying the date of birth that would make a person 21 years old, Lossing said.
"Alcohol is everyone's responsibility from the parking attendants to the servers," Jatto said. "It comes down to human error."
Jatto said they have other programs to discourage drinking, including a designated driver program. Drivers can register with guest services to receive two free soft drinks for promising not to drink alcohol for the night, he said.
Lossing said the individuals cited have to go through a municipal court process on their own. They are suspended and not permitted to sell alcohol any more in the Schottenstein Center, and they will be retrained after the court process is over. She said she will recommend that the group they were fund-raising with be reinstated without those individuals.
The Schottenstein Center also faces a hearing with the Liquor Control Commission, which will probably take place in about four months, Ehrhart said.
"They could be fined, suspended or have their license revoked," she said.
Other places cited by the Investigative Unit last weekend include Nationwide Arena — during the Blue Jackets game on Feb. 9 — and the OSU Citgo station on Olentangy River Road on Feb. 8.
Ehrhart said the Nationwide occurrence was similar to what happened at the Schottenstein Center. Three servers were also cited there, after five bars were checked. Midwest Sports Service Corp. is the liquor permit holder at the arena.
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