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Crime and Punishment: lemonade stand shut down, kids go free
by Paul Teetor
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Manhattan Beach Police raid lemonade stand Sunday afternoon. Photo by James Combs. |
Manhattan Beach police shut down a children’s lemonade stand at the corner of Harkness and 3rd Streets Sunday after repeated complaints from neighbors. The reason: the kids were soliciting sales without a city permit.
One neighbor who witnessed the incident, James Combs, said he was surprised the police would devote tine and energy to closing down a lemonade stand when they could be chasing speeders and cars that run stop signs in the neighborhood.
"Maybe the kids didn’t have a business license, or maybe they were stealing customers from the open house up the street," Combs said.
Police Chief Ernie Klevesahl defended his officer’s actions.
"We don’t go out looking to close down lemonade stands," Klevesahl said Tuesday. "If we don’t get complaints, then we leave it alone. But if someone complains, then we have to respond."
Klevesahl said the incident began Saturday afternoon, when the police received a complaining call about the lemonade stand.
"When my officers got there, the kids were in the process of closing it down," Klevesahl said. "Then on Sunday we got another complaint, saying the lemonade stand was a traffic hazard."
The responding officers determined that the children were soliciting sales without a city permit, and spoke to their parents, who said they were going to shut it down anyway.
"The kids and their parents were totally cooperative, and there were no citations issued," Klevesahl said.
ER