Four people were cited last weekend by Benicia police, who accused them of buying an alcoholic beverage for a minor, Lt. Frank Hartig said Tuesday.

That youth was a decoy who helped Benicia police and California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents with the Saturday sting, Hartig said.

The 17-year-old boy attempted to have adults buy him a beverage as they entered the store where he was standing, Hartig said. That attempt often is called a “shoulder tap.”

The sting sent officers and the youth to eight Benicia businesses where alcoholic beverages are sold, Hartig said. The stores’ employees weren’t told in advance about the operation.

“None of the businesses (was) at fault in the instances where alcohol was purchased for the minor,” Hartig said.

He identified the four individuals cited on a charge of furnishing a minor with an alcoholic beverage as Fernando M. Murdock Jr., 22, of Vallejo; Tina M. Marshall, 50, of Vallejo; Stephen D. Tosch, 26, of Benicia; and Jose L. Munoz, 26, of Benicia.

The operation is one of several tobacco and alcohol compliancy checks Benicia police will conduct this year, Hartig said. The operations are funded by the Solano County Reducing Rates Coalition.

Hartig said Benicia police will continue working with ABC on similar investigations in the future.

“We are very concerned when adults furnish alcohol to minors,” he said. “We will continue these decoy operations to discourage this activity from occurring.”

He said the department is hoping people “will think twice before they decide to furnish alcohol to minors, and think about the consequences they face if they get caught doing so.”

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