Police Check ID's at Louie's

Cambridge Police have been staking-out a local convenience store, popular among undergraduates, to crack down on minors purchasing alcohol, according to students and the store's manager.

The Cambridge Police Department checked the identification of customers leaving Louie's Superette last weekend, according to store manager Sushin Chen.

Cambridge and Harvard police officials refused to confirm or to deny that they are monitoring the store.

Last weekend was not the first time the police have targeted Louie's, which is located next to Mather House, for potential violations of the Commonwealth's laws governing alcohol sales to minors, said Chen. Chen added that the crack down at Louie's was just part of the Cambridge and Harvard police forces' regular monitoring of area liquor stores.

"They want to make sure we do our job and check the IDs of all of our customers who may be underage," Chen said.

But students said that last weekend's monitoring was more intense than usual. Police officers hid in the Mather parking lot and confiscated several students' fake identification cards, said Ian Stern '93.

"Police officers approached a friend of mine as he walked back from Louie's to Mather last weekend. He was carrying alcohol in a plastic bag, so they asked to see his ID and took it," said Ron T. Mitra '94.

Louie's Superette is popular among underage buyers because of its notoriously lenient approach to state drinking laws, students said.

"They always card, but even though they ask for ID, they don't check too carefully," said Anthony C. Castelbuono '92. "It's my impression that they just take about anything."

"They'll take anything resembling a real ID," said Stern. "I think a 10 year-old could get served there."

But Chen denied that Louie's is lax in carding minors. "We always card because we would rather not sell to people in question," Chen said.

Students said that the attempts by police to catch minors buying alcohol at Louie's have discouraged undergraduates from patronizing the convenience store.

"It's hit or miss," said Stern. "People are nervous because sometimes the police are there and sometimes they're not."