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It was one of four sales of vape products that police said they witnessed in less than two weeks to 16-year-old boys from Franklin Lakes, Midland Park, Ridgewood and Wyckoff at the same store.
Detective Sgt. Kevin Kasak was monitoring the Quik Mart on Feb. 22 when he said he witnessed a sale to a 16-year-old Ridgewood boy.
The teen then got into the passenger side of a car driven by a 17-year-old boy, also from Ridgewood, Lt. Joseph Soto said.
Kasak stopped their car and was told by the younger teen that he’d just bought four pods at the Crescent Avenue store, off Godwin Avenue, without having to show ID, the lieutenant said.
After confiscating the vapes and letting the teens go, the sergeant said he returned to the store -- and spotted another sale, this time to a 16-year-old Franklin Lakes boy.
The boy told Kasak he'd bought a vape starter kit without having to show ID, the lieutenant said.
Again, the items were confiscated. Both the 16-year-old buyer and a 17-year-old driver, also from Franklin Lakes, were released.
This time, Kasak back to the store and told the owner and his wife that they’d broken the law by selling tobacco products to buyers under 21.
Four days later, Kasak and Detective Sgt. Michael Ragucci returned to give the couple summonses.
Sure enough, Soto said, they saw a 16-year-old Midland Park boy buy two packages of pods. He then got into a car with three other minors.
After the car was stopped, the boy told the officer he’d bought vape products several times before “using his health insurance card for identification,” Soto said.
The officers confiscated the pods, let the kids go, and returned to the store.
Once again, the officers said they watched as yet another 16-year-old boy – this one from Wyckoff – bought a pack of pods.
“When asked for identification, he showed his high school ID card, which the store accepted,” Soto said the boy told them.
After confiscating the pods and releasing the boy, they went back to the store and arrested the owner, 52-year-old Anjun Dey, and his wife, Shimu Gupta, 38, both of Paterson, the lieutenant said.
Both were charged with selling tobacco products to minors.
This past Tuesday, Kasak and special agents from the state Treasury Department conducted an unannounced inspection at the Quik Mart, Soto added.
They “discovered that store was in compliance with all state regulations regarding the sale of tobacco products” while again warning Dey, he said.
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