Several teens were cited recently during two party busts and a traffic accident for alleged underage drinking, a police official said.
In the case of both parties, police were called by neighbors reporting excessive noise and other disturbances, said Grayslake Police Cmdr. Matt McCutcheon.
At one party, allegedly held on Feb. 25 at 330 Neville Drive, 22-year-old Yecenia Lopez, who lived at the address, was charged with obstruction of justice and permitting an unlawful gathering.
Others allegedly caught drinking at the residence, including John Romanski, 18, of Grayslake, Lamar Walker, 20, of Grayslake, Rashan Jackson, 20, of Grayslake, two 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds, were all charged with illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.
The people involved with that party were all cooperative, with one exception, McCutcheon said. One 17-year-old Grayslake boy became “argumentative and insulting” and pulled away from officers when they tried to cite him.
That teen, in addition to an underage drinking charge, was charged with a local ordinance for resisting a peace officer.
The other party, allegedly held Feb. 26 at 753 Walton Lane, included Beau Acevedo, 18, of Round Lake Beach, Brian Waldron, 18, of Lake Zurich, and a 17-year-old juvenile.
All underage people charged either blew positive on breath tests or were seen by police with alcoholic beverages in their hands. Although some of those people had relatively low blood alcohol content according to the breath tests, consumption of any alcohol by minors is illegal, McCutcheon said.
A social hosting ordinance, passed by the Grayslake Village Board in 2009, allows police to charge parents or other adults with hosting underage drinkers. No one involved with the recent parties has been charged under the ordinance, but the village prosecutor is reviewing each case to decide whether anyone could be charged, McCutcheon said.
In the case of one of these parties, the homeowners – who were also the parents of the person who threw the party – were out of town, McCutcheon said. In that case, with the parents having no connection to or awareness of the underage drinking, they would likely not be charged with hosting under the ordinance.
Also on Feb. 26, another teen was charged with illegal consumption of alcohol, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia, according to McCutcheon.
A 16-year-old Grayslake resident, who had allegedly been drinking and had a pipe with marijuana residue, was the passenger in a car that was stopped after crashing into a tree in the 900 block of Tylerton Circle.
The driver, Val Whiting, 21, of the 2000 block of Forest Court, was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol, McCutcheon said.
Whiting had allegedly driven away from the crash and parked down the block. Officers found him, with the 16-year-old, in the truck with heavy front-end damage, McCutcheon said.
Whiting was also charged with driving with a blood alcohol content above the .08 legal limit — police say he allegedly blew a breath test of 0.23 percent. He was also cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, and leaving the scene of an accident for allegedly driving away after striking a tree with his pickup truck, McCutcheon said.
