Wilmette police called Kenilworth and Winnetka officers for help corralling more than two dozen partygoers, after getting complaints about noise and street disturbances in the early morning hours of April 4, police said.
The teenage host of the drinking party apparently promoted his event on Facebook and attracted attendees from as far as Plainfield and Naperville, Wilmette Deputy Chief Kyle Perkins said. Many of them didn’t even know the host, they reportedly told officers.
More Top Picks Best Foot Massagers For Restless Legs
The incident at a home on the 600 block of Prairie Avenue resulted in the host, Joseph Montesano, 19, getting a local ordinance ticket and a May 8 date in Cook County Circuit Court in Skokie for consuming alcohol as a minor.
Police discovered that one of Montesano’s guests, Ross T. Matson, 21, of the 200 block of 6N Acacia Lane in west suburban Medinah, was wanted on a DuPage County bond forfeiture warrant. He was arrested, processed and released on bond, and has a May 4 court date on the DuPage case.
A third partygoer, Brandon Nguyen, 21, of the 6100 block of N. Richmond Avenue in Chicago, was issued a $100 village fine for possession of marijuana.
The incident began at about 1:20 a.m. April 4, when a neighbor called police, complaining about visitors to the Montesano home being loud, noisy, and possibly involved in some sort of fight, police reported.
“There were no fights when they got there, but while people were leaving, just the number of people involved meant it was very noisy,” Perkins said.
Many party guests reportedly sprinted from the area, or got into cars and drove off when they saw police arriving. Six Wilmette officers were on the scene, and they called in one officer from the Kenilworth Police Department and one from Winnetka to help process 28 people stopped on Prairie and on the nearby 1300 block of Central Avenue.
Perkins said partygoers who didn’t appear to have been drinking and who weren’t driving were sent home. Any that did appear to have been drinking were likely to be released to parents, he added.
According to police, Montesano told them that he held the party while his parents were away on a cruise to the Bahamas. A Montesano relative, whose son was at the party, told police his son called to say that the party was getting too big, police said. The relative came to the property and allowed police to go inside the house, police said.
According to the police report, police were called to a similar incident at the home in 2013; at that time, officers reportedly told Montesano’s family members that they could be cited if another such incident happened.
Perkins said Montesano’s parents were expected to return April 7. He said he didn’t know if police planned to cite them in the incident, but said that could happen.
Perkins said he was not sure if Wilmette police have previously dealt with incidents in which party hosts used Facebook to invite guests.
“This is a newer issue for us. It would be very interesting to see how much Facebook and social media plays into things like this party in the future,” he said.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy