Discrepancies have arisen between one of the party hosts fined last weekend for operating an illegal tavern at an off-campus residence and the Milwaukee Police Department's accounts of what happened the night of three off-campus parties where 186 partygoers were fined for underage drinking and the party hosts were fined for providing them alcohol.
The 22-year old male student is being fined $17,576 for providing alcohol to 75 underage party attendants and $345 for charging party attendants for alcohol without a liquor license, or operating an illegal tavern, said MPD Public Relations Manager Anne Schwartz.
The College of Arts & Sciences junior, who requested his name be withheld, is expected to pay the fines and has assumed all responsibility for the party when officers arrived at the 2126 W. Michigan St. residence.
The student claims his tickets are for different amounts than Schwartz identified, however. He said according to his tickets, the illegal tavern citation is for $343 and the one for alcohol consumption by 75 minors is $25,350.
He will appear in court to make his plea April 4. He is not sure if he will hire an attorney yet, but said "there's no way" he can pay the fines. He said he was completely sober on the night of the party.
According to the host, who had been standing at the back door all night, the officers who arrived at his residence all entered his house through the back door. The officers proceeded into the house to turn off the music. They began separating the 21-year-olds from the minors and issuing tickets.
The party host was given two tickets, both small fines. Then he was re-approached by an officer and one of the first two tickets was revoked and replaced with a $25,350 ticket for the 75 underage people.
Schwartz said 75 people at the Michigan Street party either consumed or possessed alcohol and were under the age of 21. She said officers confirmed this by following procedure, which is to check driver's licenses.
But the party host insists the number was not that high, and "there was a good amount of people at the party who were not drinking." He said party attendants were denied breathalyzers, too.
Schwartz would not confirm if an undercover officer was used to designate this residence as one selling alcohol illegally. She also would not say whether MPD arrived at the scene as a result of a neighbor call or complaint. For the sake of officers' safety, Schwartz could not disclose the method used to designate the residence as the location of a party.
Assistant Director of Public Safety Captain Russ Shaw said no neighbor complaints came through the MPD scanner used by DPS officers to monitor the area.
There was no incident report on file at MPD's 3rd police district office. Routinely, incident reports are filed when someone calls to complain about noise or a party and MPD responds.
Until the citation recipients appear in court or pay their fines, the tickets will not be available on public record to confirm the actual amount of underage drinkers present at the party.
None of the residents at 850 N. 18th St., another location where residents were fined, were available for comment. Residents of the third location where tickets were issued, 848 N. 17th St., declined to comment.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 22 2005.