We previously saw the case of a professor who had his child taken away from him (and was barred from his own home) because his son mistakenly picked up a hard lemonade drink rather than just lemonade. By that measure, John Coulter is lucky. He was just threatened with arrest and kicked out of an Arizona Cardinals game after he asked his son to hold his beer while he took a picture.
Coulter was at the preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys when he decided to take a picture. He landed his beer to his 15 -year-old son and was taking the picture when two undercover officers with the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control nabbed him. They told him that he just supplied beer to an underaged boy. While Coulter pointed out that he was just taking a picture, it was not enough.
Sgt. Wesley Kuhl of the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control says that, if anything, the department was lenient with him: “Providing alcohol to an underage person or an underage person in possession of alcohol is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The consequences could be up to, and this is a maximum, of two years in jail, $2,500 fine and three years probation.” But he didn’t provide beer to his 15 year old son anymore than handing him the keys to the car to hold is the same as allowing him to drive. His son held a cup while his Dad took a picture. It is pretty clear that the Department of Liquor License and Control does not have enough to do if this is their concept of a righteous bust.
I realize that there is underage drinking at games, particularly with teenagers around this age. However, what happened to a simple warning? If the boy was drinking the beer, it is pretty obvious that they would arrest them. Worse yet, Coulter (a season ticket holder) was not able to see the Cardinals beats the Cowboys.
Source: USA Today
I would drink a Bud if they paid me to do so. Does Anheuser Busch even make a decent beer?
Prohibition set beer making back a century in this country. We are finally recovering.
Whose bright idea was prohibition anyway?
The biggest crime is that they make season ticket holders pay for those crappy preseason games as part of the package.
Nick,
Your comment at 9:24 was in the moderation filter. You used one of the four words the filter automatically blocks. I did a quick edit for you with asterisks so I could pull it out of moderation. Hope you don’t mind the edit. For future reference, using uppercase letters in place of lower case doesn’t fool the robot at all.
Mike,
One of the things I learned when living in St. Louis. You can’t live in St. Louis or St. Louis County without being a Cardinals fan, and we went to lots of games. The Cards at that time were owned by August Anheuser Busch, Jr., and once in a while it would be “free beer” night. I learned very quickly to never EVER go to a Cards game on free beer night.
Doesn’t anyone here realize the importance of this arrest to the liquor control officers. They’ve got a great gig watching pro football for free and all they need to do is discover some violations to justify their continued perk. There is terrible danger out there and in Arizona the beer cops are fighting it to protect you and me.
nick,
I read somewhere recently that the single most popular beer is Bud.
Among surveyed ER patients.
(This isn’t a joke. If I remembered where I read that, I’d link it.)
Buying Bud for anyone should be illegal. It’s headache beer.
In Wi. a parent or legal guardian can buy alcohol in a bar, stadium, etc. for their child. I bartended @ an Italian restaurant and had a guy buying drinks for his 15 year old stepdaughter. This was my first of many experiences w/ this insane law. That is the other end of the spectrum from the Arizona Cardinals episode.
“Sgt. Wesley Kuhl of the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control says that, if anything, the department was lenient with him: ‘Providing alcohol to an underage person or an underage person in possession of alcohol is a Class 1 misdemeanor.'”
Hey, Sgt. Beer Nazi!
There is a difference between “hold my beer” and “have a beer”, you jackbooted simpleton thug. Do they have a maximum IQ requirement to work at the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control? Somewhere around 70?
Seriously.
Get a grip on something other than what’s in your pants.
When I first moved to Wi. I moonlighted as a bartender @ an Italian restaurant. I had just moved here and didn’t know much about the state. A guy came in w/ his stepdaughter, who was 15. He ordered a pina colada for her. I laughed and said “You forgot the w/o alcohol.” This guy was a real a**hole and puffed his chest saying, “This is my daughter and I can legally buy her a drink.” The owner, a great guy, was standing within earshot. He had a sad look on his face as he nodded yes to me, the guy’s correct. In Wi., a parent of legal guardian can buy alcohol for their child. This is the other end of the spectrum.
Just sounds like another an episode of South Park, “Respect My Authority”.
Common sense boys….
Agents for Department of Liquor License and Control Boards in every state are serious “hard-a$$es”. They really were lenient with this guy.
Overreaction. Fun spoilers.
This is why God made rifles.
Stupid blind enforcement. Just plain stupid.
It’s a good reason to stop supporting these events. Let the city, county and state lose enough revenue and perhaps they will fire their fascist goon squads. Stop voting for bonds to fund private stadiums.
The ever increasing size and scope of the police state leaves everyone at risk of violating some law or ordinance. These jackbooted types must justify their existence and it’s much easier to be busting dads at football games than chasing teens in lousy neighborhoods who are trying to buy booze with fake IDs. The Police State. Coming to a sporting event near you.
Somebody needed to meet his/her quota of arrests for the month. This is insane. Laws enforced by persons with zero judgement are nothing more than excuses to harass people because one can. These agents should be fired.