Liquor board fines two businesses for alcohol violations

The Christmas rush was on at Bun Penny Liquors in The Mall in Columbia Dec. 22 when a 15-year-old coffee clerk stepped up to help with a sale.

Unfortunately for licensees Jeffrey and Debra Ditter and Daniel Robertson, the 15-year-old sold Kahlua liqueur to an 18-year-old customer and got caught. The legal drinking age in Maryland is 21, and sales clerks must be at least that old to conduct transactions. That mistake led to a $250 fine last week, one of two ordered April 26 by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board.

In the other case, a $150 fine was imposed by the board on Gregory C. Tolker, Richard H. Shackelford and Luke L. Stumpf, owners of G. L. Shacks Grill in the 9400 block of Old Annapolis Road for an July 19 incident in which county police Officer Dan Besseck saw six people inside the restaurant, including two who were drinking, more than an hour after the mandatory closing time.