Party Gets Out Of Control With Underage Drinking, Drugs

At just after 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, Marin CHP responded to assist the Marin County Sheriff’s Department with a report of several juveniles trespassing inside a residence on Laurel Grove Avenue in Kentfield. Upon arrival to the residence, deputies detained a large group of teens ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old in front of the house. It was discovered that there had been forced entry into the home and that a group of teenagers had been having a party involving marijuana and alcohol. None of the teens at the home had permission to be there and neither the owner, nor anyone associated with the owner, was present.

CHP officers detained a vehicle filled with teens in front of the house where the 16 year old driver was in violation of his provisional license due to having underage passengers. An open bottle of flavored vodka was also located in the vehicle. A citation was issued to the 15 year old female passenger in possession of the alcohol, and an intoxicated 16 year old boy passenger who could not care for himself was transported home to his parents after the CHP could not reach them by phone.

“It seems that every weekend we are responding to, or running across incidents involving Marin County teens driving carloads of their friends around at night in violation of teen driving restrictions that do not allow them to drive after certain hours or have passengers the first year they get their license," said CHP Sgt. Marcus Bartholomew. "We also routinely find them in possession of marijuana and hard alcohol and are under the influence of these substances. In a majority of our cases, teens are playing this age old shell game with their parents regarding where they actually are at night, or who they say they are actually with.”

CHP officers also located other intoxicated minors hiding in bushes near the residence. Parents were called to respond to the home to pick up their children. It was discovered that many of the parents where under the impression that their particular child was “spending the night at a friends house” and did not know that they were out and about in the community at that hour.

“It is frustrating that it takes a substantial amount of our time and resources to deal with this in the field, but we have to make sure that these kids get back home safely. The time it takes local law enforcement to track down parents and guardians for these kids could be spent on other enforcement areas," Bartholomew said. "We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to underage drinking and drug use, and we are simply not going to release intoxicated minors to other minors, “designated driver” or not.”