Spring Break
Police bust house party
Students receive more than $19,000 in citations
DJ Slater
Issue date: 9/19/05 Section: Campus News
It all happened too quickly for many to react; most felt it was just a joke.
By 1:30 a.m. Saturday, however, around 100 UW-Eau Claire students had received underage drinking citations at 833 Chippewa St., residents of the house said.
"It was just kind of a messed-up situation," junior and resident Tony Hyland said.
Brad Venaas, deputy chief of patrol for the Eau Claire Police Department, said he couldn't give a statement because no one has reviewed the report yet.
Four of the six house residents (two were not present) each received about $900 in fines. Each received a citation for selling alcohol without a license and one for providing alcohol to minors. Each citation cost $435.
The citations for underage drinking run $248 for first offense, $373 second offense, $498 third offense and $748 fourth offense. If each student received his or her first offense that night, the police would have issued around $25,000 in drinking citations.
Hyland said the party began around 8 p.m. and went until about 11:30 p.m., when 15 to 19 police officers broke up the event.
"I've never heard about something like this before in Eau Claire," he said. "I hope they don't start doing this normally."
House party busts of this nature, while not as common in Eau Claire, have occurred across the state.
Junior Andy Brandt, a resident of 833 Chippewa St., said everything was going fine until an undercover police officer walked into the basement and revealed his badge. At that time, some students tried to run, but were stopped outside by the police surroundingthe house.
"I thought it was a joke, but I guess it wasn't," Brandt said. "(The undercover police officer) said, 'everyone underage is going to get a minor.' "
The undercover officer, Hyland said, was difficult to pick out because he "blended in with everyone" and even bought a cup.
Once the undercover officer made his way downstairs, junior resident Noah Valentino tried to warn his friends the police were driving around the block, but nobody could hear him.
By 1:30 a.m. Saturday, however, around 100 UW-Eau Claire students had received underage drinking citations at 833 Chippewa St., residents of the house said.
"It was just kind of a messed-up situation," junior and resident Tony Hyland said.
Brad Venaas, deputy chief of patrol for the Eau Claire Police Department, said he couldn't give a statement because no one has reviewed the report yet.
Four of the six house residents (two were not present) each received about $900 in fines. Each received a citation for selling alcohol without a license and one for providing alcohol to minors. Each citation cost $435.
The citations for underage drinking run $248 for first offense, $373 second offense, $498 third offense and $748 fourth offense. If each student received his or her first offense that night, the police would have issued around $25,000 in drinking citations.
Hyland said the party began around 8 p.m. and went until about 11:30 p.m., when 15 to 19 police officers broke up the event.
"I've never heard about something like this before in Eau Claire," he said. "I hope they don't start doing this normally."
House party busts of this nature, while not as common in Eau Claire, have occurred across the state.
Junior Andy Brandt, a resident of 833 Chippewa St., said everything was going fine until an undercover police officer walked into the basement and revealed his badge. At that time, some students tried to run, but were stopped outside by the police surroundingthe house.
"I thought it was a joke, but I guess it wasn't," Brandt said. "(The undercover police officer) said, 'everyone underage is going to get a minor.' "
The undercover officer, Hyland said, was difficult to pick out because he "blended in with everyone" and even bought a cup.
Once the undercover officer made his way downstairs, junior resident Noah Valentino tried to warn his friends the police were driving around the block, but nobody could hear him.