News and Investigations

On Monday, February 1, 2021, deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office visited four different convenience stores to ensure that retailers are in compliance with the state law on selling alcohol to nobody under 21-years-of-age. 

Operation Pop-Top, as it is called, utilizes a PCSO Explorer to enter a store and attempt to purchase an alcoholic beverage. The PCSO Explorers program consists of high school students who have an interest in a career in law enforcement.

The Explorer who visited stores on Monday is 18-years-old.

The four stores visited were in the Haines City and Poinciana areas.

Karen Katia Sanchez-Miranda, 39, of Kissimmee, the on-duty clerk at the 7-Eleven store at 398 Marigold Avenue in Poinciana, and Kelsie Isaac, 20, of Haines City, the 7-Eleven store at 1690 East Hinson Avenue in Haines City, were both arrested for selling alcohol to the Explorer. 

The other two stores that were visited were compliant with state law. Those stores are:
Junction Foods, at 5775 East Johnson Avenue in Haines City and J& S Foods, at 3104 East Hinson Avenue in Haines City.

“Stores with alcohol sales, and their employees, have an obligation to make sure that alcoholic beverages are not sold to anyone under the age of 21. We do these operations frequently to ensure that these stores are compliant, and most of the time they are.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff