Police allege illegal sales of alcohol

#MiddleburyCT #IllegalSales #Alcohol #Minors

L to R, Dhruviben Parikh, in handcuffs, is escorted out of International Wine and Spirits by Officers Erik Markiewicz and Daniel Gillotti on July 28, 2026. Police allege she illegally sold alcohol to minors. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Editor’s Note: Due to new information, the following article has been updated as of July 29, 2026, at 8:40 a.m.

Middlebury Police Detective Erik Markiewicz, working with Officer Daniel Gillotti, served an arrest warrant Tuesday, July 28, on International Wine and Spirits owner Dhruviben H. Parikh of Waterbury, 42, alleging she illegally sold alcohol to minors. The store at 750 Straits Turnpike in Middlebury, Connecticut, is the Middlebury liquor store closest to Post University. Middlebury Police Chief Patrick Deely said sources told police the liquor store was known to under-age youth in the area as a place that would sell alcoholic beverages to them without asking for an ID.

A second arrest warrant, also for illegally selling alcohol to minors, was issued for employee Sriman Sriramula, 24, of Waterbury. He was not in the store at the time of the first arrest but did turn himself in to police when he was asked to do so.

Deely said security camera footage seized earlier by the police department showed Sriramula did not ask the late David Young, 18, to produce an ID when he purchased alcohol there on two occasions on Friday, July 10. Young died after a traffic accident at 12:35 a.m. on Saturday, July 11. Initial autopsy reports indicate Young’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit when he died.

Parikh was charged because Markiewicz previously observed a young male who did not appear to be 21 leaving the store with alcohol. When he conducted an investigative stop, the young man admitted he was 19, as confirmed by his Connecticut driver’s license, and that he was not asked for an ID when he bought the alcohol.

Parikh and Sriramula were each charged with sale of alcohol to a minor, released on a $10,000 bond and assigned a court date of August 13, 2026, in Waterbury Superior Court. International Wine and Spirits is at 750 Straits Turnpike, on the corner of Straits Turnpike and Country Club Road.