Liquor store tied to sale to minor loses its contract

8/17/2013

A West Toledo liquor store accused of selling high-proof vodka to a minor now is selling only beer, wine, and low-proof spirits.

The Ohio Division of Liquor Control on Thursday suspended the liquor agency contract it had with Foxx Liquor Store, 5341 Dorr St., according to Brian Hoyt, spokesman for the division. He said the contract was suspended after the Aug. 9 indictment of a Foxx employee on a charge of selling or furnishing intoxicating liquor to a minor, a misdemeanor punishable by a mandatory fine of $500 that could go as high as $1,000, and a possible jail term of up to six months.

The employee, Nicholas Thompson, 38, of 340 S. Reynolds Rd., is accused of selling vodka Feb. 1 to a friend of Brian Hoeflinger, 18, of Ottawa Hills, who was killed that night after drinking at a friend’s birthday party, driving, and crashing into a tree.

Mr. Thompson, convicted in 2012 for selling beer to a minor at Foxx Liquor, is set to be arraigned on the new charge Aug. 27 before Lucas County Common Pleas Judge James Bates.

Mr. Hoyt said Foxx Liquor is “contracted with the state of Ohio to be a retail liquor agency. As a contractor, we can suspend that contract, and we have.”

The suspension is indefinite, he said. Further action may depend on what happens in the criminal matter.