Northbrook dad: 'I am not guilty of serving alcohol to kids'

Val Evalen of Northbrook said he was just trying to do something nice for his teen daughter when he agreed to let her have a 17th birthday party in his Northbrook basement.

He said that decision turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes he has ever made.

Evalen, 49, of 1972 Summerton Place, was charged by Northbrook police with a local law violation after the underage drinking party at his home.

He and 16 underage drinkers attending the party were cited by police Nov. 8 and are expected to be in court Dec. 1.

But after being blasted as a bad parent in the news and by commentators on blogs and Internet Web sites, he said parents and adults do not understand the situation he was in.

"I was guilty of having a normal party, but I am not guilty of serving alcohol to kids or allowing them to get drunk," he said. "When police came, I let them into the basement because I didn't expect anything bad. But they were sneaking it in, or getting drunk in other places before coming over."

Evalen said he was approached by his teen daughter in October about the party and he issued a stern warning against allowing alcohol inside.

"She promised me all the kids would not drink," he said. "My daughter is a responsible child, but this is a modern world. If kids want to drink, they'll find a way to do it."

He said things started getting out of hand around 10 p.m., when more teens started appearing at the house than anyone ever expected. But, he said, at no time did he realize 60 or 70 kids were in the basement drinking.

"It was like a revolving door on my house because kids would come in, then go outside to smoke, then come back inside," he said. "There was no way to keep track of them all."

Evalen also says at no time did he go into the basement to check on the party - a mistake he now regrets. He said he learned later kids were sneaking in vodka in water bottles.

"I wanted to give my daughter her privacy," he said. "But we were upstairs keeping an eye on people coming and going, and I didn't see any signs of alcohol or drunk people coming in or out."

He said only after police arrived at 11:30 p.m. that Friday - disputing the 2:30 a.m. time cited by police - did he notice two empty bottles of vodka in the basement and a third empty bottle on the front porch. Police said Wednesday that when they arrived they found two teenage girls on the front porch with a bottle of vodka.

And just before police arrived, Evalen said, he noticed the first teen to show up intoxicated.

"She obviously was drinking in her car, or somewhere else, because we hadn't seen her at all that night," he said. "In fact, my daughter told the person who brought her that she didn't want her there because that girl was too intoxicated. Then, after they showed up, the police arrived."

He also disputed the police statement that teens sneaked out of the house and ran away. All 60 or 70 teens in the basement party were lined up by officers and given Breathalyzer tests, he said.

"I understand what I did wrong in that I let my daughter throw a party and kids sneaked in alcohol," he said. "But how can I search each and every person that walked in? How can I practically check everyone? I mean, I can't open every bottle of water to check and see if there is alcohol."

He said he decided to come forward with a statement because he didn't want to be put in the middle of a war between adults and students on teen drinking, as is taking place on the comment board at dailyherald.com.

"Never, at any time, did I think this party was getting out of hand," he said. "It's a very complicated situation. But, I would never, ever, give those children alcohol. I didn't serve the drinks. I didn't let them drink. A few kids sneaked in alcohol and I didn't see it."

Party: 'I understand what I did wrong'

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=250092">Northbrook dad charged with allowing underage drinking at party <span class="date">[11/12/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>