In The News

Social Host Case Draws Guilty Plea
Originally printed in The Westerly Sun
Friday, September 11, 2009
Author: Emily Dupuis

WESTERLY - An 18-year-old woman pleaded guilty this week to the first reported violation of the town's social host liability ordinance.

Samantha Read, of 41 Rockridge Road, pleaded guilty and paid the $250 first-offense fine on Wednesday, one day before she was scheduled to appear in Municipal Court, according to clerk Donna LaPlante.

Westerly police cited Read in late July for hosting a gathering where alcohol was served to minors. She holds a dubious distinction as the first individual charged under the town's socalled social host ordinance.

The Town Council adopted the law, proposed by the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force, on July 13.

The law makes it illegal for any person to "conduct, aid, allow or otherwise permit" a party or gathering at a residence where alcohol is served to minors. The ordinance holds the individual with "control" of the premises responsible.

Since then, one other individual has been cited for a social host violation in Westerly, according to police arrest reports.

Roberto L. Toledo, 19, of 2 Knight St., Unit C, was charged on Sept. 1 with allegedly hosting a party with approximately 15 underage individuals and alcohol. Read was cited after police responded to her father's house at 6 Lee St. the night of July 22 after receiving calls about a disturbance. Officers arrived to find three males walking in the road - two holding open beer cans.

At the house, police were permitted to enter and found approximately 20 young adults, none 21 or older. In an open bedroom, officers observed "multiple beer cans on the floor" and an open closet containing an unspecified number of 30-packs of beer, according to reports.

The police report logged a total of 61 cans or bottles of beer found in the home.

Police also issued a summons for underage possession of alcohol to two of the teens 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.

They both pleaded guilty and paid fines in August, according to LaPlante.