Fifty-one people were cited for underage violations and one person was arrested when the Platteville Police responded to a large party taking place at 440 W Adams St. at 11:21 p.m. on March 27. The Platteville Police, the Grant County Party Patrol and one campus police officer responded when they received a noise complaint and underage drinking on the premises.

Heidi Rollins, sophomore elementary education major and a resident of the house, answered the door after receiving a call from a friend at the police station who had been arrested.

“When I answered the door they asked if there was a party going on here tonight and I said ‘yes’,” Rollins said. “I told them that I had just gotten the call from the police station and that I had been sleeping. At that point I let them in.”

“The police responded to at least one noise complaint,” Platteville police chief, Doug McKinley said. “When an officer arrives they knock and try to get a hold of someone on the lease and ask them what they want to do about the situation when there is obviously a large party taking place.”

Rollins said that there were about 60 people in the house at the time and some property was damaged in the course of the night.

“The cop broke our door and my roommate’s headboard,” Rollins said.

“The only interior door leading to the basement in our house is located in my room,” Samantha Eggers, sophomore middle-level education major said. “It’s located behind my headboard. One of the cops proceeded to come up from the basement and enter my room and forced the door open and it broke my headboard and the door.”

Eggers has opted not to make an official property damage report to the police.

“We’re going to continue to deal with parties in this manner until we get voluntary compliance,” McKinley said.

The following people were cited at the bust:

• Alyssa K. Barnett, 19, of Morrison, IL
• Jason M. Bickford, 19, of Bancroft
• Alicia M. Cleland, 19, of Roscoe, IL
• Adam P. Cook, 19, of  Morrison  IL
• Cornelius D. Mitchell, 20, of Decorah, IL
• Rachel A. Day, of Platteville
• Drew D. Ellis, 19, of Independence
• Evan J. Engle, 19, of Cross Plains
• Heather M. Foye, 19, of Cross Plains
• Joshua Franz, 18, of De Forest
• Kyle N. Geohegan,19, of Green Bay
• George W. Ross, 19, of Manteno, IL
• Benjamin T. Handziak, 19, of Belgium
• Jordan J. Hass, 20, of Manawa
• Ashley A. Hellenbrad, 20, of Cross Plains
• Megan M. Herzfeldt, 20, of New London
• Brian J. Hillebrad, 21, of Cross Plains
• Adam G. Hutson, 20, of West Salem
• Anthony J. Joski, 20, of Green Bay
• Mitchell D. Keegan, 19, of Monticello
• Nathaniel J. Lederman, 18, of Monticello
• Nikolas W. Love, 19, of Oregon
• Mallory Mau, 20, of Platteville
• Jeremy T. Meier, 19, of Monticello
• Monica M. Miller, 20, of  Pence
• Mitchell A. Nehring, 18, of Deerfield
• Gerald R. Nielson, 20, of Sturgeon Bay
• Joseph D. Nielson, 20, of Sturgeon Bay
• Ryan J. Olles, 20, of Platteville
• Kyle B. Olson, 19, of Platteville
• Shane P. Oroukee, 20, of Rubicon
• Ryan L. Peterson, 20, of Platteville
• Kyle D. Peterson, 18, of Roscoe, IL
• Andrew D. Pinter, 19, of Milwaukee
• Alec J. Preston, 20, of Mosinee
• John R. Prunty, 19, of Oconomowoc
• Sarah E. Ritter, 20, of Tomah
• Ryan R. Robotham, 20, of Platteville
• Heidi L. Rollins, 20 , of Dubuque, IA
• Benjamin J. Schaefer, 20, of Brookfield
• Rachel R. Schmidt, 20, of Lancaster
• Lauren A. St. John, 20, of Trevor
• Elyse M. Troy, 19, of Shullsburg
• Andrea L. Vegter, 19, of Morrison, IL
• Peter J. Venere, 19, of Sycamore, IL
• Jared S. Vogt, 19, of West Bend
• Jeremy P. Wahl, 20, of Monticello
• Aaron J. Wahlner, 20, of Wisconsin Rapids
• Whitney A. Welk, 19, of Waupan
• Kevin J. Weatherbee, 20, of Twin Lakes
• Timothy L. Wilhelm, 19, of Lomira

Grant County Party Patrol
Police have made a large busts for the past four weeks because of the availability of the Grant County Party Patrol. Previously, the Platteville Police Department didn’t have enough officers to respond to large-scale parties.

“Realistically, without their assistance, we wouldn’t be able to adequately police a party like these large parties that have been taking place because we didn’t have enough officers,” Platteville police chief, Doug McKinley, said.

The Party Patrol is a grant-funded operation that was established early this year in response to incidences and accidents related to alcohol where people were injured.
“We hope that if we make contact with people who have been drinking at parties we can prevent these kinds of accidents from happening,” McKinley said. “Obviously they can leave after that and these things can happen but we hope that by making contact with them we can deter that behavior and maybe get them started in the Fresh Start program for those with alcohol abuse problems.”

When a person hosts a large party that is busted by the police they are at risk not only for an underage citation if they are under 21, but also for allowing underage consumption.

McKinley said that hosting these large scale parties is not only putting students at risk of getting a ticket, but they also have a lot of responsibility when a large number of people are drinking on their residence.

“You become a liability if a person who was drinking at your party gets into an accident and is sued,” McKinley said.