Crime Report: Beer Bust in Highland Park!

The beer bust in Highland Park was no party at the moon tower, especially after cops cleared the house.

The most notable incident in this week’s Park Cities police blotter is more embarrassing than frightening. Just before 9 p.m. last Friday, two Highland Park officers were dispatched to the 3700 block of Crescent Avenue to investigate a report of a party where minors may have been drinking. One officer approached the home in question and rang the doorbell several times. Thanks to the glass doors on either side of the house, he could see people trying to scale the back fence while he was waiting for someone to answer.

Two teens finally opened the door but stated that they did not live at the house. The officer asked to speak to the owner, but the teens were not cooperative. So the officer entered the house and loudly announced his presence; still, the owners did not emerge. So he proceeded to the backyard, where people were still scaling the back fence. Unbeknownst to them, the second officer was waiting in the alley to detain them.

The first officer noticed several cans of Coors Light spread around the pool area, and then heard a noise from the pool house. He shined his flashlight in the direction of the pool house and saw what appeared to be several teenagers trying to hide from him. He entered the pool house and confirmed that at least 40 teens were inside, along with several more cans of beer. The officer told the teens to stay put as he investigated further.

The officers eventually located a son and daughter of the house’s owners. The daughter said their father was in Austin and their mother was not home. She could not say exactly where and claimed her mother would not answer her phone.

Police dispatchers made several attempts to contact the homeowners with little success. All this time, the wife was returning her daughters’ texts but refusing to come home. Finally, one of the officers on the scene texted the husband, who called him back. The officer told the husband that if a responsible adult did not show up soon, his children might have to be taken into custody and charged with alcohol violations.

Shortly thereafter, the wife came downstairs and admitted that she’d been hiding in a closet the entire time. She was issued a “failure to supervise a child (alcohol)” citation.

One male partygoer who admitted to buying the beer was issued a “minor in possession” citation. A girl who smelled of alcohol, slurred her speech, and kept refusing to follow an officer’s instructions was handcuffed to a chair and issued a “minor consumption” citation. The incident report also includes the names of 14 teens – seven 18-year-olds and seven 17-year-olds – who had to call their parents to pick them up. Awkward!

Click through for a roundup of last week’s other residential crimes in the Park Cities:

At 9:07 a.m. on Dec. 3, a resident of the 4300 block of University Boulevard reported broken picture frames in her driveway.

At around 11:50 a.m. on Dec. 4, a thief stole a lunch bag from a yellow 1997 GMC Sierra 3500 in the 7000 block of Hunters Glen Road. In addition to the victim’s lunch, the bag also contained his $100 Nokia phone.

At about 9:45 a.m. on Dec. 5, a thief stole a $1,189 self-propelled mower, a $390 weed eater, and a $250 edger from an unlocked trailer in the 4300 block of Saint Johns Drive.

At around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, a miscreant threw rocks at a silver 2014 Mercedes S550 in the 3800 block of Southwestern Boulevard, causing $750 worth of damage.