Teenage Caravan Leads DUI Patrol to Underage Party in Bonney Lake

The Pierce County Party Patrol has been busy the last two weeks with 32 people -- 29 youth and three adults-- arrested for underage drinking or furnishing teen parties.

In Bonney Lake, a caravan of underage teenagers unwittingly led police to the residence of a 17 year-old, who's mother was highly intoxicated and supplying alcohol for a party.

In Edgewood, two adults living in a townhome were arrested for supplying alcohol to minors. At another house party in that town, an underage girl had to receive medical attention for alcohol poisoning and another was assaulted.

In Puyallup, two 19 year-olds who attended the homecoming dance were arrested; one had a BAC level that was more than twice the legal limit.

"The most important thing," said Puyallup Police Sgt. Bob Thompson, "was that 29 youths asked for and got help from chemical dependency professionals. Also, parents of the kids, including those parenting 18- to 20 year-olds, were given tools to motivate their son or daughter to stop drinking."

In its fourth year of operation, Pierce County's Party Intervention Patrol has been proven by an external evaluator to change youth and parent attitudes and behaviors that can result in underage drinking deaths and injuries. 

This project, believed to be the only one of its kind in the nation, is managed by the Tacoma Pierce County DUI and Traffic Safety Task Force, Pierce County Community Connections and the Puyallup Police Department.  

More than 20 community volunteers and chemical dependency professionals team up with law enforcement to provide the patrols throughout the school year. Participating law enforcement agencies include the Puyallup, Bonney Lake, Sumner, Orting, Gig Harbor, Fife, University Place, Tacoma, Fircrest and Buckley police departments, along with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department and the Washington State Patrol. The project is currently funded by a grant from the Washington Impaired Driving Council.