Douglas County Sheriff's Office Deputy Cocha Heyden says the special investigations unit was conducting compliance checks at establishments Saturday night.
No business was cited for selling alcohol to a minor, but owners of a bar and a liquor store were both charged with criminal mischief after they confiscated and destroyed IDs used in the sting.
The owner of the Sedalia Bar and Grill on US 85,Jody Johnson,received a summons after he cut up the driver's license used by the teenage decoy.
"They were attempting to buy alcohol illegally," Johnston said. "What I did was exactly what I'm supposed to do."
Deputies also issued a criminal mischief citation to Braden Dodds, owner of Village Wines at Castle Pines on Happy Canyon Road.
Dodds says he believed he was justified in seizing and destroying an ID used in an attempt to illegally buy alcohol.
"I'm trying to protect my store," Dodds said. "It's very frustrating."
State law requires businesses to confiscate fake IDs and call authorities. The ID used by the decoys were real driver's licenses, which showed the customers to be underage.
Johnson says he destroys all licenses being used in an attempt to illegally buy alcohol. Dodds says he was unaware it was illegal to destroy such licenses.
Heyden says businesses are in violation of the law if they cut up an ID, fake or otherwise. She said the fact that the ID involved was being used in an undercover sting does not affect the situation.
Johnson disagrees and says he is being targeted by authorities angry that he impeded their compliance check.
"They were just p---ed off because they didn't have an ID to go use somewhere else," he said.
Dodds says he too feels he was cited because deputies were angry they could not complete further compliance checks without the decoy's license.
Heyden acknowledged that efforts to complete the scheduled checks were impeded by the destruction of the decoys' IDs.
Dodds and Johnson are due to appear in court in the coming months.Both tell 9NEWS they will fight the charges against them.
