Tavares Police Release Names of Those Cited In Underage Alcohol Sting

TAVARES, Florida—Tavares Police Department has released the names of the four restaurant employees accused of serving minors Friday night.

TPD utilized three confidential informants for its undercover operation and each one used their actual state issued identification, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake. No fake IDs were used in the operation. One informant is 20 and will not turn 21 until close to the end of 2022 and the other two informants are under 18, according to a report.

Around 7:30 p.m., the informants went to Dog House, 201 West Ruby Street and sat at the bar. The 20-year-old informant ordered a vodka and tonic and was asked for identification. The informant produced the identification that stated she was 20 years old and Kayla Maznaritz, 29, of Tavares “looked at her ID for a very long time and eventually asked if she was 21,” the report states. The informant said she was 21 and Maznaritz gave her identification back and served the vodka and tonic. The other two teenagers were asked for identification and said they forgot it. They were not served.

Maznaritz was removed from the restaurant and issued a misdemeanor citation that requires an appearance in court. Maznaritz told TPD she had her manager look at the identification and the manager confirmed the informant was 21, but the informant said Maznaritz was the only one who looked at it.

At 8:40 p.m. all three informants entered Puddle Jumpers, 111 West Ruby Street and sat at a table. The 20-year-old ordered a vodka and tonic and the teenagers each ordered a beer. Dorothy Fox, 49, of Tavares looked at each of their IDs, complimented their photos and handed them back. All three minors were served, and each identification had a large red box with yellow lettering stating when the individual would turn 21.

Around 9 p.m., the trio went to Tiki West, 118 West Ruby Street and sat at the “oyster bar,” according to a report. The 20-year-old informant ordered a vodka and tonic and was asked for identification. The informant produced it and was served by Gabriella Shelton, 29, of Tavares. The second informant produced identification and was not served, and neither was the third informant who said they did not have their identification, the report states.

At 9:15 the trio went to the last restaurant that would serve them Friday night, Buster Tubbs, 110 South New Hampshire Avenue. They sat at a table and ordered a vodka and tonic and beers, according to the report. Server Gerri Roos, 49, of DeLand, asked for their identification because her boss “was around” but she “really don’t care,” the report states. She glanced at two of the identifications and did not look at the third, according to the report.

Fox, Shelton and Roos were all issued misdemeanor citations, along with Maznaritz and TPD turned over its findings to to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the agency charged with issuing liquor licenses and regulating alcoholic beverage laws, TPD Lt. Sarah Coursey told Inside Lake Friday.

TPD has seen an uptick in minor crimes committed by juveniles lately and stopped a minor walking downtown with a beer earlier this month. “We were informed there were some issues downtown, so we acted quickly to try to prevent further problems like fights, DUIs and disturbances,” Coursey said.

The informants attempted to buy alcohol at four other establishments Friday night. Hemingway’s Wine Beer and Cigar Bar, 126 West Ruby Street; Kalua Beach Bar, 181 South Joanna Avenue, O’Keefe’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, 115 S. Rockingham Avenue and Ruby Street Grille, 221 East Ruby Street all denied the minors.

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