Resident tells council Rocky's sold vapes to underage students; asks for stiffer fines

DeKALB, Ill. — Nicole Malik told the DeKalb City Council on Aug. 25 that Rocky’s convenience store repeatedly sold vaping products to underage students and urged city leaders to raise fines for retailers and cashiers. Malik said the Indian Creek school district found five vapes after school started, three of which she said were sold to students by Rocky’s, and that she reviewed police reports and a credit‑card receipt tied to one sale.

“How is this board going to hold these locations liable?” Malik asked. “A thousand dollars is not enough at all.” She called for a $5,000 fine for a first offense and said Rocky’s had posted bright window signs advertising THC and ketamine. Malik asserted the store’s owner had previously told the council his location did not sell to underage customers; she said police reports showed that statement to be false.

DeKalb’s meeting record shows no formal council motion or vote on enforcement at the Aug. 25 meeting. The city’s police chief responded to Malik by offering a follow‑up conversation: “Chief, let's have a conversation tomorrow,” the mayor told the meeting as the chief signaled willingness to meet. No enforcement action or ordinance change was adopted at the meeting; Malik asked the council to reconsider the size of fines and to provide more resources for underage‑sales enforcement.

Why it matters: Malik said repeated underage sales put students at risk and asked the council to back the police department with stronger penalties and funding for underage purchase investigations. The transcript includes Malik’s assertion that multiple documented incidents — including a credit‑card receipt turned over to police — tie Rocky’s to at least one of the underage purchases; Malik characterized earlier council statements by the store owner as untrue.

The council did not discuss specific draft language or a motion to change local fines on Aug. 25. The city’s next steps, based on the exchange in the meeting, are a follow‑up meeting between Malik and the police chief and any subsequent staff recommendations that would return to the council for formal action.