On a Friday night last May, a 19-year-old Denver police cadet walked into Avondale Liquors across the highway from Empower Field. He tried to buy a Bud Light Chelada as part of a sting operation, and they let him.
Earlier that same day, the store had applied to renew their liquor license with the Department of Excise and Licenses. But the citation that followed the underage sale was just another notch in the belt of a long history of criminal activity at the store — one that led to the loss of its liquor license this week
After years of community complaints about the owner’s complacency, the city has denied the store’s application to renew its liquor license. The store remains open but can only sell tobacco and other products, not alcohol.
An alleged ‘corrupting place’
The store at 1365 N. Federal Blvd. is right around the corner from Paco Sanchez Park — one of five high-crime locations identified by DPD in a data-driven police effort beginning in 2023…