In The NewsPolice Detail Party Arrests
Originally printed in The Westerly Sun
Friday, July 31, 2009
Author: Emily Dupuis- The mother of arrested teen accuses authorities of selectively enforcing the town's new social liability ordinance.
WESTERLY - The mother of the first person charged under the town's new social host liability ordinance accused police of selectively busting parties the night officers arrived at her home, according to newly released police reports.
The reports, requested by The Sun and released Thursday, detail what officers saw and were told when they responded to calls of a loud party on Lee Street on July 22.
Police later issued 18-year-old Samantha Read a citation for allegedly hosting a gathering where alcohol was served to minors. She is the first person to face a charge under the "social host liability" ordinance brought forward by the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force and adopted by the Town Council on July 13.
The 41 Rockridge Road resident is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court on Aug. 20. She faces a $250 first-offense fine.
While a phone message left by The Sun at the Reads' home was not returned, the report by Patrolman Christopher Peloso states that Kim Read, Samantha's mother, told officers she believed the police were "selectively busting parties and that it was unfair how this was being handled."
Westerly Police Chief Edward A. Mello said Thursday that the department has made 32 arrests for underage possession of alcohol under the state law since January 2008.
"Thirty-two arrests in 18 months. I think it is pretty clear we're not selectively targeting these individuals," he said.
A supplemental narrative report by Patrolman Ryan Page stated that after police were permitted inside the 6 Lee St. house and found alcohol, Samantha Read "now admitted that people were there drinking, but didn't want to originally be honest because she felt she was being targeted."
According to reports, Peloso and Page arrived on Lee Street at approximately 11 p.m. for reports of a "possible underage party and a possible disturbance in the road."
They saw three males walking in the road, two of whom they allege were holding opened Bud Light beer cans. The three told police they were at a party at 6 Lee St., and were walking home, the reports state. After detaining the three in the rear of two police cruisers, Peloso went to the front door at 6 Lee St. and Page to the back door.
"As I looked in the front door window, I could see several youths inside the residence scrambling to hide things," Peloso wrote. "I did not observed [sic] anyone consuming any alcohol."
Peloso said he knocked and was met by Read, who said she lived there with her father, who was at work, and said he could come inside, according to the report.
Page reported, "As I was walking around the house, I could hear voices coming from inside state 'the cops are here' and people attempting to quiet other people."
A female let him in and "the house was extremely warm and had an odor of an alcoholic beverage inside," he reported.
Inside, officers saw approximately 20 young adults, none age 21 or older, according to the reports. The officers spoke with Read and asked if they could look around inside for alcohol, the reports state. Read gave them permission and said they would not find anything, the report continues.
"I announced to all the youths inside to produce the alcohol that they were consuming," Peloso wrote. "A few got up and went upstairs? The youths produced approximately 60 beers that were inside coolers and packages. Another youth pulled a half full box of Bud Light beer from a closet near where I was standing."
Page escorted one teen into an open bedroom and observed "multiple beer cans on the floor" and an open closet containing "the remainder of the beer, including open 30 packs with both opened and unopened cans of beer inside." He also reported two coolers full of unopened beer in the closet, all cold to the touch.
The report logged a total of 61 cans or bottles of beer and makes no references to finding any drugs at the home.
The patrolmen collected the alcohol, asked Read to contact her mother and obtained attendees' names, addresses and phone numbers, the reports state. While most were 18 or older, their parents were contacted because officers did not feel it would be safe to allow them to drive home, according to the report.
The officers did allow two females to drive home after performing field sobriety tests, according to the report.
On Thursday, Mello said some of the parents contacted appreciated the call, while others were upset.
Police also called and left a message for Read's father, David Read, the property owner. Mello said they had not spoken with him as of Thursday.
They did speak with Kim Read, who told officers she believed they were unfairly and "selectively" breaking up parties, according to Peloso's report.
In May 2008, Westerly police charged Read under the state's social host law for allegedly procuring alcohol for minors after an underage drinking party took place at her home. That case has been expunged and the disposition is unknown.
At the Lee Street incident, officers issued summons for underage possession of alcohol to the two teens allegedly found with open alcohol containers on the street - Michael J. Bailey, 18, of 14 Harrison Ave., and Michael J. Terranova, 18, of 75 White Rock Road.
"The officers, in my eyes, handled this as textbook as they can," Mello said Thursday.
He equated enforcing the town's social host liability ordinance to enforcing speed limits.
"We can't be everywhere all the time," he said, adding the ordinance was created to raise community awareness and curb illegal behavior.
In response to a request filed by The Sun under the state's Access to Public Records Act, Mello reviewed all the calls received by the department between July 14 - the day the ordinance went into affect - and Thursday.
No calls other than the two to Lee Street involved suspected underage drinking parties.
Police did receive one report of two minors consuming alcohol on the beach, but did not find any violators when they arrived.