Des Plaines parties yield 105 charges

Des Plaines police cited more than 100 minors for underage drinking in recent days after breaking up two large parties, one of them held inside a carwash.

Eleven officers responding about 11:50 p.m. Friday to complaints of a loud party at the carwash on the 700 block of South First Avenue cited 82 partygoers, most between the ages 17 and 20, for consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Police arrested Angel Cruz, 24, of the 1200 block of South Third Avenue in Des Plaines, on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, obstructing police and resisting arrest after he blocked the main entrance to the business and refused to let the officers inside, claiming it was private property, police said.

After officers advised Cruz they could enter because of the complaint, he folded his arms and refused to move, reports said. According to police, Cruz struggled with officers during the arrest. His court date is July 25.

Police reports say Cruz charged the partygoers $5 to get inside and provided them with alcoholic beverages. Officers confiscated from him a plastic container filled with $233, authorities said.

The partygoers came from across the suburbs, including Hoffman Estates, Buffalo Grove, Itasca, Hanover Park, Schaumburg, Bartlett, Wilmette, Franklin Park, Lisle, Waukegan, Streamwood, Medinah, Des Plaines, Glenview, Elk Grove Village, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Arlington Heights and Villa Park. Other guests came from as far away as Chicago and Kenosha, Wis., reports indicate.

Three nights later, at 11:55 p.m. Monday, police charged 22 Des Plaines residents with consumption of alcohol by a minor at a home on the 1400 block of Whitcomb Avenue, where a 17-year-old girl was hosting a party.

When officers entered the backyard, the partygoers fled. Police said some jumped a fence while others ran into the house and hid in the basement or locked themselves in an upstairs bathroom. Two people climbed out a second-floor window onto the roof.

An officer had to break into the bathroom as a 17-year-old boy gagged, coughed and vomited inside, reports indicate.

He was found unresponsive, appearing to have fainted and nearly fallen out the bathroom window, according to reports. Paramedics took him to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

Police said beer cans and open bottles of alcohol littered the house and backyard.

The teenage girl who hosted the party while her parents were away was taken to the police station and charged with consumption of alcohol by a minor and facilitating use of alcoholic beverages.

Those 18 and over were released after receiving citations at the scene. Those under 18 contacted their parents, who picked them up.