ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
State authorities have suspended the alcohol license of the Roanoke County convenience store that sold beer to a teen-age boy who struck and killed a woman in his neighborhood while driving drunk.
The 30-day suspension can be reduced to 20 days if the owner of the Riverside Quickette pays a $1,000 fine.
The store's owner, Fred Dotson, and his attorney, John Patterson, did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control issued the suspension after investigating charges that the West Main Street store sold beer to the already intoxicated teen-ager on Dec. 14, the same night he killed Bonnie Kitts as she was walking with her husband.
Two weeks after the fatal accident, police sent two underage informants to buy beer and wine from the store, then charged the clerk with two misdemeanors. A county General District Court judge dropped the charges, saying the informants looked older than 21.
The ABC Board agreed and dismissed an administrative charge stemming from the sales to the informants. The store had never before been cited, according to ABC records.
In the ABC Board's decision, the hearing officer said the teen-ager's "youth and intoxication aggravate the seriousness of the offense," despite the store's previously clean record.
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