By Tiffany Craig Special Assignment Reporter
Published: Wed, April 23, 2008 - 6:00 pm
Tiffany Craig
School holidays like Spring Break take the problem to a new level.
So, we spent an evening with undercover agents to show you the scary side of underage drinking.
Gulf Shores, better known as Pleasure Island, turns into party town when Spring Break rolls around.
When we got to town, we interviewed teens hanging out by the beach and on the strip. They told us they have a good time but leave the drinking to the grown ups.
Teens opened up their cars and coolers and we couldn't find a drop!
Everything changed a short time later when we teamed up with Gulf Shores Police and agents of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
Lieutenant Mike Cook has worked for the ABC Board for years and says they aim to stop it early. "Our goal is if we catch em when they're young or they are a juvenile then hopefully they'll learn a lesson when they're a juvenile and it don't carry into their adult life."
Sergeant Tim Spears says they've heard all the stories when busting kids under the influence. "Some excuses... I didn't know that was alcohol I was drinking or I didn't realize alcohol was in that drink. Um, I only had a couple of sips."
To see the underage action firsthand, ABC Agent Jerry Bolton took us for a night out on the job and it didn't take long to find teens getting into trouble.
Bolton pulled over a 16-year driver. "Do you have any alcohol in your car? No. What are you holding down with your hand? It's a slushie. Let me see. Is there any alcohol in it? No. You sure? Yes sir. I got it from the gas station. Why are you so nervous?"
Perhaps the Fairhope teen was nervous because there was more than a frozen drink in the car.
Bolton spotted a pink drink that was poured into a water bottle and makes the teen hand it over. "Unscrew it. Where's it at? What? That's alcohol. Turn the car off put it in park. Do you have alcohol in your car right now? No sir. This was in your car! I had friends with me earlier."
The young driver was given a breath test and it comes back negative. Bolton told him that he could be charged with Minor in Possession of alcohol. Instead, the officer poured out the drinks and let the teen go with a warning.
On the next stop, warnings were out of the question.
An undercover agent spotted a teen drinking on a hotel balcony. We heard the call on the radio and got there in time to see the bust go down.
Some of the kids asked what's going on as agents searched the room.
Agent Bolton explained the situation to some teens sitting on the bed. "You have a 19 year old standing outside drinking beer. Officer enters and smells a strong odor of marijuana. Now they've looked a little closer and they found marijuana. That's exactly what's going on here.
An unidentified teen says she just got there. "I know but I don't understand if we didn't do nothing wrong."
In the end, officers found marijuana, countless cans of beer and a bottle of liquor. Three teens were handcuffed and taken to jail.
Less than two hours into our alcohol raid and we witnessed enough to scare any teen away for the bottle.
Photographer Arnell Hamilton and I were about to wrap up the shoot when an emergency call came over the radio.
A 15-year old girl was unresponsive in a condo on the beach. They believe it was alcohol poisoning. When the agents got to the room, they found an empty bottle of Crown Royal.
No one seemed to know exactly how it happened but the young girl was seen throwing up and then passed out. Luckily, she survived.
The night was a sobering experience.
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