Redondo Beach liquor store owner wanted for molest, selling drugs

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Bilal Joudi, 57, the owner of Party House Liquor, hasn't been seen behind the counter for several months, but customers had no idea why.

"I actually asked the other day where he had gone, and the co-worker had said that he's on vacation, " said customer Sara Digges.

Redondo Beach police arrested Joudi on Oct. 1 for possessing cocaine and selling prescription drugs. Investigators were tipped off that he was allegedly selling cigarettes, alcohol, OxyContin, Vicodin and Xanax to minors.

Police say they found a stash of drugs in a storage room of the liquor store and that's not all.

"Through the course of the investigation, they also determined that he was also sexually contacting and molesting teenage girls," said Redondo Beach police Sgt. Shawn Freeman.

Joudi was released from jail two days after his arrest. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has filed drug charges and child molestation charges against him, but police now believe he may have fled the country.

Teenagers who were regular customers say they knew him as Bill and that he was always friendly.

"If we were short a couple cents, he would just like hook us up and stuff like that," said customer Justin Booth. "He was never like a mean guy or anything to us. He was a nice guy."

At Salon Riviera, just two doors down from Party House Liquor, hair stylists say they're not surprised by the allegations of drug dealing.

"We have a parking lot in the back so there were always kind of sketchy people coming through the back so we definitely saw some stuff," said Spencer Henry. "We had our assumptions."

A $220,000 warrant has been issued for Joudi's arrest.

Anyone with any information on the investigation or Joudi's whereabouts was urged to contact Detective Mike Green at the Redondo Beach Police Department's Special Investigations Unit at (310) 379-2477 Ext. 2273.