LIQUOR STORE OWNER ORDERED OUT OF BUSINESS.

Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer

A Granada Hills liquor store owner will have to give up his business because he sold alcohol to a 16-year-old who later drove drunk and killed an elderly pedestrian, authorities said Thursday.

``This was a very tragic accident,'' said Lonnie Corley, from the Van Nuys office of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. ``But hopefully this will scare other licensees into obeying the law.''

On Thursday, the ABC posted a 60-day license suspension at Sunny's Liquor, owned by Jerzy Slusarczyk, 47, which requires him to transfer the liquor license and sell his store within six months, according to Corley.

If the license is not transferred within that period of time, the ABC has the power to revoke the license permanently, he said. That is unlikely, he said, since the store is in the process of being sold.

Slusarczyk sold two teen-agers, 16 and 17, two 40-ounce bottles of beer, according to the ABC. Later, the younger youth returned and bought a 32-ounce bottle of beer from Slusarczyk, again without showing identification, the ABC said.

While the 16-year-old was driving his friends home later that night, his car slammed into 74-year-old William Smith as the man crossed the street near his Northridge home. Smith died later at a hospital.

The youth, who was not identified because of his age, was arrested. Police said he had a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent, twice the statutory limit even for a driver old enough to drink legally.

While that case was being investigated, Devonshire Division vice officers said they watched Slusarczyk continue to sell alcohol to youths.

Charges were filed and Slusarczyk pleaded no contest to selling alcohol to minors. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years' probation.

Corley said others have lost liquor licenses for sales to minors.