Two weeks ago we reported that Andy’s Party Store in Dearborn was one of four businesses in the city that received tickets from the police department for selling tobacco products to minors. Our report, along with other news agencies, stated that the clerk at the store was aware that the female customer was under-age and the clerk still decided to sell her the cigarettes. However, the woman who was behind the counter that day has now come forward stating these claims are not true, saying she feels she was sabotaged by the police department.

After issuing out tickets to Andy’s Party Store on Greenfield Rd., Dollar Kingdom on Warren Ave., Future Fuels on Michigan Ave. and the Citgo gas station on Warren Ave. during a tobacco compliance sting which involved using minors who did not carry ID’s on them, the police department decided to recall two of the tickets due to the findings that the minors in disguise actually looked much older than what they appeared.

Last week, Ali Ftouni, the owner of the Citgo gas station gave us a photo of an African American male who was the alleged minor in disguise that came through his store to purchase cigarettes. Ftouni claimed the man looked well into his 20’s or even in his 30’s.

Now the clerk at Andy’s is claiming that an Arab female, who appeared to look like she was 30, came into her store during the compliance check and persuaded her into selling her a pack of Newport’s to the minor.

“She was an Arab female. The first thing I did was ask her for an ID and she told me she did not have it,” Kallo, a Chaldean clerk at liquor store stated. “The girl kept on insisting that she was a regular and the other clerks in the store always sell her cigarettes. I had a feeling I was being set up and I had a hard time believing her,” Kallo added. “In the four years that I have worked here I have always been careful about this stuff. I always ID people, even if they tend to look older.”

Kallo states that the female kept on pushing her to sell the cigarettes. Kallo says she told the female that she would go outside to see if there were cops waiting in the parking lot just to confirm that she was not working with the police. Kallo added that at this point she noticed the female was acting fishy because she started texting on her phone. When Kallo stepped outside, she did not see any police and decided that she was telling the truth.

“The police have done these tests on our store before and we passed them. But because of the way she kept on pushing me to sell her the cigarettes and the fact that she was an Arab, i did not think she would set me up to get me in trouble, so I decided to finally sell them to her,” Kallo stated.

But Kallo’s instincts were wrong. A few minutes later the police came back and issued her a ticket for selling tobacco to the minor. She now has to pay over $1,100 for the entire debacle. A $500 fine just for the ticket and lawyer fees that amount to over $600 when she goes to her scheduled court date on July 18.

Kallo claims that after speaking to Ftouni, she learned that the police department dismissed most of the tickets, including the one at the Citgo Gas Station, but have not dismissed her ticket. She claims that Ftouni was able to contact and meet with Police Chief Ron Haddad about dismissing his ticket, but she hasn’t had the same luck.

“I have tried calling his office multiple times to set up a meeting with him, but his secretary told me that he refuses to meet with anyone. I just don’t understand why the other tickets were dismissed but not mine,” Kallo added. “I just want to make it clear to everyone that I was not aware that she was 17-year-old.”

Kallo isn’t the only clerk whose ticket wasn’t dismissed. Last week we reported that a female clerk at Dollar Kingdom on Warren Ave. was also issued a ticket. She says that she still hasn’t had any luck with getting the department to reverse her ticket despite numerous attempts to try and contact them. Her court date is set for July 23.