The following was taken from reports on file with the Haddonfield Police Department:
On June 16 at 11:13 p.m. an officer responded to Estaugh Avenue investigating a report of criminal mischief. The officer arrived on the scene and heard noises consistent with a party coming from a residential home that he had problems with in the past. The officer radioed in backup before approaching the home.
The officer instructed his partner to go to the rear of the home, as in time past juveniles had run from the home out the back when the officers were seen. The officer who went to the backyard heard several juveniles up on a raised deck and under it, but he could only hear the suspects under the deck. He could see the juveniles drinking on the deck and he recognized several faces from Haddonfield Memorial High School.
The suspects saw the officer and immediately mentioned that the “cops are here.” A few said they were only 17 and couldn’t be caught, the officer noted in his report, and began speaking about the School District’s 24–7 Policy. The 54-year-old female homeowner came out to the deck and told the suspects to come inside because the police officers couldn’t enter the home without a search warrant.
The officer at the front of the house knocked on the door and was greeted by a 49-year-old male who did not live at the home. The suspect said it was a birthday party, but the police officer told him he was certain it wasn’t and told him to tell the underage drinkers to come outside. The suspect went back into the home and the 49-year-old male homeowner came out and told the officer that it was a birthday party for his 80-year-old aunt and that they would quiet down and went back into the house.
The officer knocked again and the first 49-year old suspect came back out, reiterated that it was a birthday party and that the homeowners wanted the police off their property. The officer told the suspect they would leave the property, but would stay on site.
The officers noted that all of the adult suspects had alcohol on their breath.
During the next several hours, the officers noted that people kept looking out the curtains to see if they had left yet. Several times during the span, the male homeowner came outside and yelled at the officers, using profane language.
At 2 a.m., an officer patrolling the area on foot noticed the male homeowner come outside and look around. He walked into the middle of the street, looked around again, and said “it’s all clear” into his cell phone and a group of juveniles came out of the house and ran away. The officer said this occurred several more times, with each time the suspect advising the juveniles where to run.
At 2:30 a.m., officers noticed a car pull up to the home and a juvenile suspect run out and into the vehicle. The car drove away toward Woodland Avenue and the officers on the scene radioed a nearby police car, which stopped the vehicle. The driver said he had received a text from the 18-year-old female suspect in the passenger seat to come and pick her up.
Speaking with the female suspect, the officers noted that she smelt of alcohol and was being unruly. She said she had just come from her home on West Summit Avenue. The officers arrested the suspect and took her back to headquarters where she was processed and charged with underage consumption of alcohol. She was remanded to her mother.
The two homeowners were charged with hosting an alcohol gathering, maintaining a nuisance and obstruction of justice. The other adult suspect was charged with obstruction of justice.
