West Suburban Bureau

Dozens Cited For Underage Drinking In Vacant House

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) ― Dozens of underage drinkers were arrested in the West Suburbs after a vacant house became party central, according to police.

As CBS 2's West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports, Naperville Police say they've never seen anything quite like it.

The lawn of this vacant Naperville home is so unkempt there's an order on the door from the village demanding the homeowner to take care of it. The trouble is, the young man left in charge of the lawn was apparently more into partying than mowing. Police were called to the home by neighbors Monday night.

"There were a lot of people in the house; we believe there were at least 65 people in the home," said Commander Dave Hoffman, Naperville Police Dept. "Police began to investigate; most of the youths were charged with unlawful trespass of residence and consumption of alcohol by a minor."

In his 29-year law enforcement career, Commander Hoffman says he's never seen an underage drinking party with this many citations. In all, 69 young people were ticketed.

Thang Vo, 19, was the only person arrested. He's charged with trespassing, underage consumption and providing alcohol to minors.

Vo wasn't home today, and neighbors wouldn't go on camera. But they did confirm that the vacant house had turned into something like party central in the past few weeks. But for one teen Monday night's party ended with an ambulance ride to the hospital.

"There was one child that was found upstairs and she was unconscious," Commander Dave Hoffman said. "The report does not reflect what the problem was. It could be speculated that it was alcohol consumption."

The 16-year-old girl was later cited for trespassing and consumption of alcohol by a minor.

The average fine will come to around $150 each. Naperville could collect more than $10,000 in total.

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