Teen prom after-party shut down by deputies after ‘enormous’ amount of alcohol found
By Sara Marino
May 23, 2019
PALM CITY — A prom after-party was shut down before it started after Martin County sheriff’s deputies said they found a rented house filled with Jello shots, an “enormous” amount of alcohol and marijuana cigars.
“The refrigerator was stocked with mixers and Jello shots, there were stripper poles that had been placed (inside the rented home),” Lt. Ryan Grimsdale said. “My understanding was that they were planning on having a bikini contest and on the second and third floors the bathrooms were fully stocked with alcohol.”
Sheriff’s deputies said they were called the morning of April 12 by a school resource officer for West Boca Raton Community High School who told them a house party with alcohol might happen at a Palm City home in the 3300 block of Southwest Grass Trail. The officer said about 100 to 200 teens were expected to attend.
Deputies said they researched the home and found it had been rented by a 19-year-old for April 12 on Airbnb, an online home rental website.
Deputies said they called the property manager and learned the house owner lives in Austria. They said the manager didn’t know the home was going to be used for a party possibly involving under-aged drinking and drug use. The manager cancelled the scheduled rental.
Grimsdale said no one was arrested regarding the incident because deputies did not see any minors in possession of alcohol or drugs. Deputies said because the party was called off early in the day, teens didn’t go to the house that night.
“We were able to prevent the party from occurring and subsequently any of the problematic behaviors that would have been associated with it,” he said.
The 19-year-old who organized the party told deputies that when he went to the home on April 12, he was organizing the event, but hadn’t bought the alcohol or marijuana that was in the house, and that someone else had.
Grimsdale said deputies took the marijuana on April 12 as evidence when the 19-year-old was at the home, but left the alcohol and Jello shots inside the home because the owner of the home was over the age of 21.
Deputies said they did not arrest the 19-year-old because he didn’t have any marijuana or alcohol in his possession and they couldn’t prove if he stocked the house with it.
“This was going to be an alcoholic, drug-infused party and when you get adolescents that don’t always make good choices to start with and you throw intoxicants into the mix, it is a recipe for absolute disaster,” Grimsdale said.