Police seize liquor in Erie in probe of illegal sales

Pennsylvania State Police liquor enforcement officers seized 59 bottles of liquor during a search on Saturday afternoon of an east Erie residence in a probe of possible illegal alcohol sales.

A 24-year-old man accused of offering the bottles for sale on social media will face criminal charges in the incident, investigators said Monday.

Officers with the state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement’s Erie office seized 59 liquor bottles, totaling 39.7 liters of alcohol, while serving a search warrant on a residence on East 21st Street near Parade Street with the assistance of the Erie Bureau of Police.

The search was part of an investigation that was launched over a week ago after the Erie LCE office received a complaint about a person possibly selling bottles of liquor from his residence and advertising the availability of the liquor on social media, Sgt. William Stuckey, commander of the Erie LCE office, said Monday.

“Through the course of our investigation we were able to substantiate the allegations,” Stuckey said.

Investigators found receipts that they believe show that all of the seized bottles were purchased from stores before the man offered them for sale, Stuckey said. Some of the bottles were purchased in Ohio and were brought to Erie for sale, he said.

The man accused of selling the alcohol was cooperative in the investigation. Charges are pending, Stuckey said.

He said the complaint that launched the investigation was the first the Erie LCE office received about people selling liquor illegally since the state’s liquor stores were closed at the end of business on March 17 in an effort to prevent the spread of covid-19.

“I suspect we will get additional complaints, but it does not seem to be very pervasive,” Stuckey said.