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Shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night, officers were dispatched to a Berkeley Road home in Scarsdale, following reports of a noise complaint. Upon arrival, officers attempted unsuccessfully to locate the homeowner and upon entering the backyard, found “a large party and excessively loud music.”
Officers reported that they found a “large gathering of youths, 100 to 150 people, with a DJ playing loud music.”
Officers stated that upon entering the backyard, they smelled alcohol, but no alcoholic beverages were in plain view, and police “had difficulty locating a homeowner or responsible party due to the large crowd,” leading them to instruct the DJ to turn off the music.
After locating a teenager who lived at the home and attempting to break up the party, officers said that they found a teenage girl to be intoxicated who was having trouble standing and walking.
“In the interest of safety, patrol requested said party to sit down and contact her parents to respond to the scene and ensure that she got home safely, which she complied," the police report said.
"Patrol continued efforts to clear the crowd while monitoring the female,” according to the report. “As officers were clearing the crowd, a group of youths approached the female and attempted to physically escort her out of the party with them.
“(An officer) advised said youths that she would not be leaving until her parents or a responsible adult arrived on scene to take custody of her. (The) youths would not comply and became hostile and confrontational,” leading to officers to call for backup.
According to police, the teens surrounded the officer, with one becoming physical, taking out his cellphone and recording the incident as the officer attempted to safeguard the intoxicated girl.
The officer said that the teen began putting the phone in his face while “using profanity and insults toward him and continued to be confrontational.” The teen was eventually released into the custody of her parents.
“Crowds continued to be uncompliant while being ordered to leave the property,” according to the police report. “Upon youths vacating the property, a smaller group, the same group that had surrounded (the officer), congregated in the roadway shouting profanity and inciting disorder while continuing to record the incident while patrol continued efforts to clear the area of the disturbance.”
The owner of the Berkeley Road home returned home while police were disbanding the party, stating that she had no knowledge of the get-together. Further investigation found several empty alcoholic beverages that were discarded into bushes surrounding the house.
A neighbor who witnessed the entire incident confirmed the investigating officers’ recollection of the hostile incident involving the teens.
“I witnessed around 20 kids myself walking away from the house, yelling at the cops, displaying belligerent behavior, taking videos and challenging the police,” she said. “One kid was taking videos of the police and they were cursing, stating ‘what about my nights? It takes eight (expletive) cops to break up a Scarsdale party?’
“This went on for over 15 minutes while the police continued to encourage the kids to leave. They were continuing to loiter on the block within one or two houses of the party, (and) several kids appeared intoxicated, (including) one who was crying.
"Overall, at least 10 to 15 remained and were engaged in a one-sided testing and taunting of the police. Despite this combative behavior, the Scarsdale police that we witnessed (all six of them) were calm, respectful, professional and exceptionally patient with the teenagers until they departed.”
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