Three liquor stores will be closed on Oct. 2 and 3 as punishment for employees who were caught selling beer to minors in a police sting.

The owner of the Jug Shop, 221 Main St., the manager of Anchor Liquors, 2360 Cranberry Highway and the owner of Mayflower Liquors, 3150 Cranberry Highway, appeared at the Selectmen’s Tuesday meeting. All offered apologies for the incidents, which occurred while police conducted liquor compliance checks. The checks were designed to discover if stores were checking identification, particularly for minors.

A 19-year-old agent working with police was sent into stores and told to buy alcohol without producing identification

The Jug Shop was caught twice during the sting, once on July 26 and again allegedly on July 31. On Tuesday, store owner Adelaide Deponte, of Mansfield, appeared before Selectmen and apologized for the first incident. Another hearing regarding the second violation is scheduled at a later date.

“This has never happened before,” said Deponte, who has owned the store for nearly 14 years. “No one is hurt more than I am. I have a hole in my heart, we will do our best for it not to happen again.”

Aruna Johar, of Plymouth, who sold alcohol to minors at Mayflower Liquors on July 26, admitted to police she sold alcohol to the agent, said store owner and Aruna’s daughter Monica Johar.

“When the officers came in she felt guilty she made this mistake,” said Monica. “We’re pretty good at checking IDs. I don’t know how it slipped this time.”

Monica noted that the store has ID scanners and uses them often.

In the case of Anchor Liquors, clerk Rakesh Patel, of Kingston, was caught in the sting. The store’s owner, Ayushi Patel, apologized and told Selectmen action was taken to prevent the sale again.

“It was our honest mistake, and we’re not denying it, but there’s no reason it should happen again,” said Ayushi.

She explained when alcohol is sold, clerks are prompted to scan identification. Generally, sales can’t take place unless proper ID is provided. However, clerk’s could manually override that software. Ayushi said since the sting the bypass option was removed and all customers must produce identification before a sale occurs.

Acting Police Chief John Walcek thanked board members, officers and others for their cooperation. He noted Wareham has a reputation as a town where minors go to buy booze. Walcek noted police were making progress in changing that reputation.