2008 Woodie Awards
Six SHU students arrested
Carli-Rae Panny
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: News
Underage drinkers beware.
On Feb. 1, late Friday night, a fun night out turned into a nightmare for six Sacred Heart students.
According to Sgt. Paul Grech, of the Bridgeport Police Department and head of "Neighborhood Enforcement Team (NET)," there were a total of 12 students arrested under misdemeanor charges of the third degree.
The raid occurred at local Bridgeport club, "Club Azur" and was run by NET, whose main objective was to crack down on the use of fake ID's.
"People don't understand that doctoring an ID is considered forgery," said Sgt. Grech, Bridgeport Police Department.
In an interview with Grech, he displayed a box which held over 100 fake ID's. Most were doctored to change the date of birth so that the person seemed to be over 21 years of age.
He said that the arrests over the weekend would result in only misdemeanor charges, which he considered to be the "soft route," because the students were not aware of the crack down.
Four of those students were located on campus and handed summons. The other eight students were fingerprinted, photographed, and held at 500 dollars bond.
According to Officer Jason Amato, Bridgeport Police Department, there are a lot of assaults that occur in Bridgeport and it isn't safe because there are gangs and groups of people who see an intoxicated student as an easy target.
Dean of Students, Larry Wielk said, "We've been working with NET since the beginning of the year and in December, we met with Fairfield University, the Fairfield and Bridgeport Police Departments, representatives from both congressman Chris Shays and the State Liquor Control, and the owners of 10 liquor establishments, including Club Azur."
He said that after the meeting, everyone left relatively on the same page and agreeing that they would meet again.
As the dean of students, Wielk sees the repercussions of underage drinking on campus. Fighting, vomiting, and alcohol transports are some of the problems that occur on a weekly basis.
Wielk also said that local cab companies have been complaining to police. They too have to deal with picking up students who are sick, unconscious, and often times after driving an intoxicated student, they end up getting stiffed from their cab fare.
"Students who are arrested are subject to university disciplinary action," said Wielk. "This includes students who are caught promoting any type of unsanctioned promos."
Junior Meagan Rolla heard about the incident thorough the Connecticut Post.
"I think it's a really frightening situation to be in and it makes people realize your actions have serious consequences," she said.
Sgt. Grech warned, "If you're not 21, don't go out to Bridgeport because we are going to be out there monitoring. We're changing our game plan and using zero tolerance. We will start making arrests."
.
On Feb. 1, late Friday night, a fun night out turned into a nightmare for six Sacred Heart students.
According to Sgt. Paul Grech, of the Bridgeport Police Department and head of "Neighborhood Enforcement Team (NET)," there were a total of 12 students arrested under misdemeanor charges of the third degree.
The raid occurred at local Bridgeport club, "Club Azur" and was run by NET, whose main objective was to crack down on the use of fake ID's.
"People don't understand that doctoring an ID is considered forgery," said Sgt. Grech, Bridgeport Police Department.
In an interview with Grech, he displayed a box which held over 100 fake ID's. Most were doctored to change the date of birth so that the person seemed to be over 21 years of age.
He said that the arrests over the weekend would result in only misdemeanor charges, which he considered to be the "soft route," because the students were not aware of the crack down.
Four of those students were located on campus and handed summons. The other eight students were fingerprinted, photographed, and held at 500 dollars bond.
According to Officer Jason Amato, Bridgeport Police Department, there are a lot of assaults that occur in Bridgeport and it isn't safe because there are gangs and groups of people who see an intoxicated student as an easy target.
Dean of Students, Larry Wielk said, "We've been working with NET since the beginning of the year and in December, we met with Fairfield University, the Fairfield and Bridgeport Police Departments, representatives from both congressman Chris Shays and the State Liquor Control, and the owners of 10 liquor establishments, including Club Azur."
He said that after the meeting, everyone left relatively on the same page and agreeing that they would meet again.
As the dean of students, Wielk sees the repercussions of underage drinking on campus. Fighting, vomiting, and alcohol transports are some of the problems that occur on a weekly basis.
Wielk also said that local cab companies have been complaining to police. They too have to deal with picking up students who are sick, unconscious, and often times after driving an intoxicated student, they end up getting stiffed from their cab fare.
"Students who are arrested are subject to university disciplinary action," said Wielk. "This includes students who are caught promoting any type of unsanctioned promos."
Junior Meagan Rolla heard about the incident thorough the Connecticut Post.
"I think it's a really frightening situation to be in and it makes people realize your actions have serious consequences," she said.
Sgt. Grech warned, "If you're not 21, don't go out to Bridgeport because we are going to be out there monitoring. We're changing our game plan and using zero tolerance. We will start making arrests."
.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Shu Student
posted 2/07/08 @ 10:22 AM EST
Great, that's just excellent. Sacred Heart doesn't have enough problems with students leaving the university due to its high school feel and lack of things to do on campus over the weekend, they should probably try to crack down on underage drinking. (Continued…)
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