Employees of two Brookfield convenience stores have been charged with illegally selling cigarettes or other tobacco products to underage purchasers.
Mousa H. Baidoun, 22, of Vape City Smoke Shop, 7190 Warren Sharon Road, sold a vaping product to an underage purchaser March 14, Brookfield police said. Baidoun, who lives in Warren, pleaded guilty in Trumbull County Eastern District Court April 4 to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct and was fined $150.
Ali B. Ramahi, 19, of Fuel Express, 7257 Warren Sharon Road, sold cigarettes March 4, said the Ohio Investigative Unit. Ramahi, who lives in Youngstown, pleaded not guilty at arraignment and faces a pretrial hearing April 25
In each case, the underage purchaser was a confidential informant working with the investigative agencies.
Brookfield police said they decided to target Vape City after multiple complaints from Brookfield school officials and parents of juveniles that Vape City has been “distributing THC and nicotine products to juveniles and persons under 21 years of age.”
During the allegedly illegal transaction with the informant, who was 18, Baidoun, co-owner of the store, asked the informant what school he goes to and the informant named a high school, police said.
“At no point did Baidoun ever ask the (confidential source) for ID,” the police report says.
As Baidoun was being arrested, police informed the other employee of the store of the complaints that had been received and that every customer must provide identification, police said.
“The same warning was later given to Baidoun,” the report said. “Baidoun assured me that he would make sure the store abides by this from this point forward.”
“We will make checks and make sure they do stay in compliance,” Police Chief Dan Faustino said at the April 1 meeting of the township trustees.
In the case of Ramahi, the Ohio Department of Health makes a list of establishments that it would like the OIU to make tobacco compliance checks at, and Fuel Express was on the list, an OIU spokesman said.
