Nutley Store Owner Sold Underage Customer Vape Pen: Police

NUTLEY, NJ — Nutley police carried out an undercover operation at a business on Franklin Avenue last week after receiving several complaints about employees selling tobacco products to underage youths, authorities said.

According to the Nutley Police Department, officers conducted their operation at a Franklin Avenue business on Feb. 13. The business wasn’t named in a police news release about the incident.

While inside the business, detectives observed the owner – who was behind the cash register – speak with an underage customer. The officers “clearly heard the young person ask to purchase an electronic smoking device, commonly known as a nicotine vape pen,” authorities said.

The owner then attempted to sell the product to the underage consumer in violation of state and local laws, police said.

At that point, the undercover officers confronted the owner and advised them that they would be charged with Sale of Cigarettes, Electronic Smoking Devices to Persons Under Age of 21, a petty disorderly person’s offense, which has a mandatory court appearance, authorities said.

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