11 of 12 St. Mary's businesses pass alcohol checks

The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Alcohol Enforcement Unit conducted a series of alcohol compliance checks in northern and central St. Mary's County last month.

The covert compliance checks involved using an underage sheriff's office confidential informant.

The informant is 18 years old and was wearing athletic pants and a shirt, and "was informed to enter the restaurant or retail store and retrieve or order an alcoholic beverage from the business location to check the licensed establishment's underage compliance," according to a release from the sheriff's office.

The informant was accompanied by Sgt. Robert Merritt of the sheriff’s office Special Operations Division, who was also wearing civilian attire.

Twelve businesses were visited on June 25 starting around 3 p.m., and 11 were found to be following Maryland law. One business failed to ask for identification and/or corroborate the informant's age, and the 18-year-old was illegally served an alcoholic beverage.

Noli's, located on Route 5 in Leonardtown, failed to ask for identification from the underage individual, according to the sheriff's office.

The alcohol violation report was forwarded to the St. Mary's County Alcohol Beverage Board for review.

The following businesses asked for identification from the underage individual: Fiesta Café in Mechanicsville, Heavy Hitters Bar & Grill in Charlotte Hall, Hole in the Wall Hollywood, Il Piccolo Morso in Leonardtown, Korner Karryout Mechanicsville, Last Drop Country Bar in Hollywood, Local 235 in Hollywood, Old Line Restaurant and Pub in Charlotte Hall, Snellman's General Merchandise in Hollywood, Toots in Hollywood and Wicomico Shores Golf Course Mechanicsville.