Following an ALE investigation, a store clerk has been criminally charged after an alcohol-related collision left three teens hospitalized.
On Wednesday, July 13, troopers with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to a vehicle crash involving an underage driver in Catawba County. ALE was contacted after the driver, a 16-year-old juvenile, was suspected of being intoxicated prior to the crash. The juvenile was driving his mother’s truck when it left the roadway and struck a tree. Two other juveniles were in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
ALE began an investigation to determine the source of where the juvenile driver obtained the alcoholic beverages. Special agents were able to determine the juvenile purchased several Four Loko malt beverages from a Hickory convenience store, Quality Mart 5. The store clerk, Tricia Orr, 34, of Hickory, sold to the juvenile without checking his identification.
Orr was criminally charged with selling alcoholic beverages to a person less than 21 years old.
ALE special agents will submit a violation report to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission for Quality Mart 5 which could result in fines, suspension, or revocation of ABC permits.
The crash investigation is ongoing with SHP.
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