Bonney Lake House Party Ends in 24 Underage Drinking Arrests

Twenty four youths, ages 18-20, were recently arrested for minor in possession after a Party Intervention Patrol broke up a birthday party at a Bonney Lake apartment, according to Pierce County.

The Tacoma Pierce County DUI and Traffic Safety Task Force coordinated the multi-agency patrol in the 8400 block of Locust Avenue on Saturday, April 6.

Officials said most of the kids at the party were from the Bonney Lake area. Included among the arrested youth was a female who was taken to jail for making false statements, an intoxicated male who insisted he would drive home once released from the site, and a girl was sent to the hospital after officials found her semi-conscious and suffering from alcohol poisoning on the bathroom floor of the Bonney Lake apartment where the illegal binge party took place.

Police received a tip from neighbors shortly before midnight that Saturday night saying a large group of youth were spotted coming and going in the neighborhood. Officers discovered that two underage renters were throwing a birthday party for their friends.

Plain-clothes officers conducting surveillance in the area prior to the arrests came upon two semi-dressed youth in a car who said they had been drinking at the party.

“With a beer pong table set-up on the kitchen table and party favors consisting of Everclear, orange juice and marijuana, it appears we shut this party down before anyone really got hurt,” said Matt Kurle, sergeant with the Sumner Police Department and law enforcement supervisor for the Party Intervention Patrol.

Additional patrols focusing on post-arrest substance abuse interventions and meetings with parents will continue through the prom and graduation season and into the summer when many youth will take their alcohol parties outside. The patrols involve Pierce County law enforcement agencies, substance abuse professionals and community volunteers. They are funded by the Washington Impaired Driving Council and administered through Pierce County Community Connections.

Editor’s note: In a previous article, Patch reported that 22 minors had been arrested for minor exhibiting the effects of liquor.