Nine juveniles may be charged with underage possession of alcohol. A 10th already has been charged with criminal mischief, eluding police and underage possession.
By: John Tredrea
Nine Hopewell Valley juveniles may be charged with underage possession of alcohol.
The charges which are pending, according to Hopewell Township Capt. George Meyer stem from a township police investigation that began with a report of a car door being kicked hard enough to dent it by one of the juveniles and ended with discovery of a teenage drinking party at a Morningside Court residence.
Capt. Meyer said Wednesday the juveniles and their parents will meet with Detective Ray Pental, who handles juvenile matters, at which time a decision concerning charges is expected to be made. If charged and eventually found guilty by a judge, the youths probably would be given probation, Detective Pental said Wednesday.
The story began with a telephone call to police headquarters at 9:50 p.m. Friday, said Capt. Meyer.
The caller told police a rear door of his car had been kicked in while it was parked at the Burger King on Route 31, just south of Delaware Avenue. The kick had put a dent in his car, the caller said. Dispatched to Burger King, Patrolman Anthony Vistola conferred with the man who had called.
Officer Vistola then headed for a nearby residence on Morningside Court, where the juvenile identified by the victim as the car-door-kicker was suspected to be.
The suspected kicker wasn’t at the Morningside Court residence not yet when Officer Vistola showed up. Neither were the owners of the home. But a son of the owners was there, along with several other boys and two girls, all juveniles from the Hopewell Valley area and all drinking beer, police said.
While Officer Vistola was there, two more local boys came to the door. One was carrying a six-pack of beer. The other was the youth identified by the victim as the car-door kicker. When he saw the officer, that youth took off. But Officer Vistola chased him and caught him a short distance away, where the youth was arrested. He was released to his family after being booked at police headquarters on charges of criminal mischief, eluding police and underage possession of alcohol.
The nine other juveniles involved in the case the eight who were at the residence when Officer Vistola showed up, plus the one who allegedly had brought the six pack of beer to the house may be charged with underage possession of alcohol, Capt. Meyer said.
The owners of the Morningside Court residence will not face legal charges, Capt. Meyer added.
"They weren’t home when it happened and didn’t know it was going on, so they won’t be charged with anything," he said.