Man, Out of Jail 3 Months, Charged with Buying Liquor for Minors

A Burnsville man who served 30 days in jail earlier this year for terroristic threats is facing new charges of providing alcohol to children who sometimes came to his house on skateboards.

Paul Francis Blase Jr., 21, is charged with furnishing alcohol to minors, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to Blase’s home in the 1800 block of 122nd Street East just before 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2 on a report of a man handing over two 12-packs of beer to a minor.

Officers found a man standing beside a yellow Chevrolet Camaro, and saw a box of Leinenkugel beer inside the car’s back seat. An officer asked the man about the beer and how old he was; the man, identified as Michael James Hanson, admitted being 18 and said he had just bought the beer from a friend, according to the complaint.

Two neighbors told officers that they had seen Hanson drive around the area, then stop in front of Blase’s house. They said they saw Hanson talking to a man later identified as Blase, and the two exchanged something before Blase drove away.

Blase returned shortly afterward and gave Hanson two 12-packs of beer, the witnesses told police. They told officers that it wasn’t the first time they had seen Blase buy alcohol for people who appeared to be minors, and that they had seen “young kids on skateboards” arrive at Blase’s house and drink with him.

Hanson told police that he and Blase were “really good friends,” and that he had given Blase $60 to buy beer and a bottle of raspberry vodka for him, according to the complaint.

Officers spoke to Blase, who admitted buying alcohol for Hanson, but added, “I didn’t know I gave it to a minor,” the complaint says. Blase said he had bought alcohol for Hanson before, but he thought he was 21 because he was a former co-worker, according to the complaint.

The two men are Facebook friends.

Hanson told police that Blase had bought alcohol for him “at least a few times” in the past, the complaint says. He was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol.

Blase spent the month of April in the Dakota County Jail after he was convicted of making terroristic threats in the June 2011 incident. Under terms of his release, he is not allowed to use alcohol or drugs, and he is required to remain law-abiding.

Blase remained in the Dakota County Jail on Friday, with a first appearance scheduled for late Friday afternoon.