Cops seize ‘truck load of alcohol’ at Columbia gas station selling it illegally
Law enforcement officials on Monday seized boxes of alcohol from the former Obama Mart gas station at 5831 North Main St., which had been illegally selling it despite a court ruling denying the store a permit to sell off-premises beer and wine.
Area residents have repeatedly called the gas station, now called Palmetto Market, a crime magnet and community nuisance.
Officers with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division could be seen Monday stacking boxes of alcoholic beverages on a pallet outside of the gas station at 5831 North Main St. The gas station had also been cordoned off with police tape.
The sheriff’s department confirmed that the agencies were executing a search warrant to clear the premises of alcohol after the department was informed that the store was not complying with a judge’s ruling and were still selling alcohol without the proper license. The department added that law enforcement seized “a truck load of alcohol” from the store.
At a hearing this spring, neighborhood leaders testified that the store, and another nearby gas station, are the site of hand-offs that look like drug deals, gambling, exchanges that seem like preludes to prostitution, and frequent public drinking.
Captain Karen Gillman with the Richland County Sheriff’s Office also testified at that hearing, sharing that the gas station is a frequent stop for their officers, which had fielded nearly 400 calls for service there since January 2024.
Months later, on Aug. 29, Administrative Law Court Judge Crystal Rookard issued a ruling that the gas station at 5831 North Main St. would not be allowed to sell alcohol. In the ruling, Rookard wrote that the gas station “is not a suitable location for the off-premises sale of beer and wine,” and also stated that “the law enforcement testimony about the ‘prevalence of crime,’ and community members observations of ‘loitering, littering, panhanding, and other criminal activity,’ supports the finding that [the] location is unsuitable for the sale of alcohol.”
The ruling was a victory for the community members who testified that the gas station was a detriment to the surrounding neighborhoods.
Gwendolyn Singletary, a longtime resident and advocate for North Columbia neighborhoods, as well as the executive director of the Wiley-Kennedy Foundation, called Rookard’s ruling “a tremendous victory for [the] neighborhood and a true testament to what can be accomplished when we stand together for the well‑being of our community,” in a letter shared after the verdict was released.
This is not the first time the gas station has had its permit to sell alcohol denied. Community members successfully challenged the store’s permit in 2021, while it was under different ownership.
When the store changed hands, its owners successfully applied for a new permit to sell off-premises beer and wine, which was approved in January 2023. But when the store applied to renew the permit, community members and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department pushed back and in July 2024 the Department of Revenue denied the permit’s renewal. The store’s new owners, Minahajuddin Mohammed and Mohammed Hussain, appealed that decision and Judge Rookard heard the case this spring.
In her ruling denying the store an alcohol permit, Rookard also noted that it would be appropriate to deny the permit if “the public areas surrounding the proposed location have been the source of constant law enforcement problems or significant problems with public intoxication,” and if granting the permit will strain local law enforcement.
