SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A person was arrested after running from officers during a shoulder tap operation this past weekend.

Undercover officers from the Sacramento Police Department along with decoys under the age of 21 conducted the shoulder tap operation in the North Sacramento area. The shoulder tap program is when an underage decoy will stand outside a business selling liquor. The decoys will ask passing adults if the adult will purchase alcohol for them inside the store. If the adult agrees and purchases the alcohol for the decoys, nearby police officers will contact the adult and cite them. In California, it is illegal to purchase alcohol for persons under the age of 21.

Around 4:55 p.m., the operation was at a business in the area of Northgate Boulevard and San Juan Road. The decoy made contact with a passing adult male. The adult male agreed to purchase alcohol for the decoy. Upon exiting the store, the suspect entered the passenger side of the vehicle he arrived in. The driver and the passenger drove out of the parking lot. Officers attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle. The driver pulled the car over, at which point the suspect got out and started running into a nearby neighborhood. Officers were able to detain the suspect on a nearby residential street after giving a brief chase. The driver of the vehicle remained and was compliant with officers.

Upon searching the vehicle, officers located a firearm. Upon further investigation, the firearm returned as stolen in a law enforcement database.

The suspect who ran from officers and purchase the alcohol for the decoy was arrested.

A spokesperson for the police department said this operation resulted in 25 contacts from the minor to passing adults. Of the 25 adults contacted, a total of 4 agreed to purchase alcohol for the minor. Besides the adult who ran from police officers, the other three were contacted, cited, and released. Sacramento police want to stress to everyone that it is a violation of California state law to purchase alcohol for a person under the age of 21.


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