Young kids busted by cops for selling lemonade without a permit

**Terminator** · 07-19-09, 08:43 PM

The call came in at 7:06 p.m. Juveniles, seven of them, on a quiet residential street, selling an uncontrolled substance: lemonade.
A neighbor had dimed them out, and a Haverford Township police officer responded in a hurry.
When he arrived at the two-story brick house on Maryland Avenue, he dutifully informed Dana Kleinschmidt, mother of four of the reputed offenders, who included 5-year-old triplets, that they were violating the law. They were selling lemonade without a permit.
Kleinschmidt was nonplussed. She told the children to cease and desist, but the law was news to her - and evidently to the rest of the township's police department.
"We all sold lemonade when we were kids," said John F. Viola, the deputy chief of police. "We all went, like, who calls [police] on kids?"
As it turns out, according to Viola, the officer's visit was a misunderstanding that finally was left to Sgt. Joe Hagan to straighten out.
For 12 years, Hagan acknowledged, he has patrolled the streets of Haverford buying lemonade, paying the kids a buck and surreptitiously not drinking it. It never occurred to him that he was aiding and abetting law-breakers.
Legality became an issue on July 10, when William Nickerson called to complain that neighborhood children were peddling the stuff. Nickerson said they were going house-to-house ringing doorbells, and he didn't think they were being properly supervised by adults. "I'm not being Scrooge," he said.
The responding officer - who was unavailable, whom Viola would not identify, and whose name and badge number were blacked out of the police report - invoked a township ordinance against vending without a permit. What the officer didn't realize, Viola said, is that the law doesn't apply to anyone younger than 16.
"The police officer would have no way of knowing this on the street," Viola said. "He acts on information he has available."
Kleinschmidt, who didn't want to discuss it yesterday, was upset by the visit, as was her 8-year-old son.
Viola didn't find out about the incident until he read Kleinschmidt's Monday afternoon post on haverfordblog.com. "My children were crying," Kleinschmidt wrote. Word of the episode rippled through the township, and Viola said he knew he had a public relations "nightmare" on his hands. Enter Hagan.
Hagan, who has an 8- and a 12-year-old, volunteered to meet with the seven kids, and explained to them that they had done nothing wrong, that they could sell lemonade from now till the first frost with impunity. One of the triplets hugged him.
That put the lemonade issue to rest - almost.
"I stopped home for lunch that day," he recalled, "and my kids said, 'We want to do a lemonade stand.' I said, 'Absolutely not!' "

**pgg** · 07-19-09, 10:54 PM

Those kids have obviously formed an evil corporation that was not paying its fair share of taxes to offset the enviromental costs that this stand caused. They should all be ran into jail and left to rot while all of their parents personal property is confiscated so it can be contributed to the better good of society

**tapout** · 07-20-09, 12:24 AM

ok, who does that? i would have told that meddling old bag to mind her own damn business. and if she had a problem with that, i would have pointed to the name plate on my shirt and told her to write it down and call my supervisor. then i would have purchased a glass of lemonade from the kids, drank the shit out of it in front of her, and gone about my day.

**TXCharlie** · 07-20-09, 12:31 AM

Some old HOA Natzi did that once in Natchez, I think - One of the towns I used to live in, anway...

So what the Chief did was, drove over there, issued a Special Event Permit to the kids, and left a copy of it on the old fart's door. The old fart went to the City Council complaining about it, and everytime he spoke, the Mayor would rule him "out of order"

**pgg** · 07-20-09, 12:36 AM

I purposely carry change in the patrol car just for kids like this. If I see a lemonade stand I will usually go and buy a cup or two just so they do get some positive interaction with law enforcement. To often around here the only times they see us is when we take mommy or daddy to jail.

**lewisipso** · 07-20-09, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by TXCharlie

Some old HOA Natzi did that once in Natchez, I think - One of the towns I used to live in, anway...

So what the Chief did was, drove over there, issued a Special Event Permit to the kids, and left a copy of it on the old fart's door. The old fart went to the City Council complaining about it, and everytime he spoke, the Mayor would rule him "out of order"

I would have issued a special permit on scene with a crayon on a piece of notebook paper with the ripped tassels still hanging off of it.

**CTR man** · 07-20-09, 01:40 AM

What a bunch of busybodies. I know there is code enforcement but JEEZ!!!

Plus What the officer didn't realize, Viola said, is that the law doesn't apply to anyone younger than 16.

Originally Posted by pgg

I purposely carry change in the patrol car just for kids like this. If I see a lemonade stand I will usually go and buy a cup or two just so they do get some positive interaction with law enforcement. To often around here the only times they see us is when we take mommy or daddy to jail.

That right there is an outstanding job on community policing. Getting to know the community that you serve in. You may never know the positive results of the actions you show to someone. Starting them young is a plus, because possibly you may need their help in the future and they will remember this experience and how they were treated and might be forthcoming with information that you can use later on.

**Buttercup** · 07-20-09, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by pgg

I purposely carry change in the patrol car just for kids like this. If I see a lemonade stand I will usually go and buy a cup or two just so they do get some positive interaction with law enforcement. To often around here the only times they see us is when we take mommy or daddy to jail.

That's a really nice thing to do, pgg.

**Five-0** · 07-20-09, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by lewisipso

I would have issued a special permit on scene with a crayon on a piece of notebook paper with the ripped tassels still hanging off of it.

A man after my own heart. [Wipes a tear from eye and goes looking for his own local bootleg lemonade distribution center.]

**Jks9199** · 07-20-09, 11:33 AM

I remember one set of kids who were absolutely stumped when someone actually stopped at their lemonade stand...

I can see the problem with kids going door-to-door. The solution is simple; a friendly chat. Maybe some "business tips." Not charges, not threats of arrest, not even a reference to the solicitor's code. Maybe a few safety tips...

**TXCharlie** · 07-20-09, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by Buttercup

That's a really nice thing to do, pgg.

I think so too. I will make it a point to do stuff like that, if I can ever get out on my own. Right now my FTO is surgically implanted, so I'll have to get rid of him first. He even complains about kids waving at him and having to wave back.

We do things like that in the town I do Citizens Patrols in sometimes and often hand out those little badge stickers - but it's probably not the same as having a real fully uniformed cop drive up and buy something from them. We have a uniform with patches, but no badge, no duty belt, etc, and our red C.O.P. cars look more like fire department vehicles.

**lewisipso** · 07-20-09, 04:05 PM

Myself, a friend of mine, and his older brother set up a lemonade stand when we were kids. It wasn't doing well and we were drinking more of the product than selling it. An unmarked unit pulled up with the hood facing the stand and hit the airhorn. Just two detectives having fun. My friend flipped over in his chair and kicked the table. The lemonade and stand went flying. The two detectives felt so bad they bought us out for $10. Strange, not one mention of a permit.