Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis has the story.
"My dog started barking, and I noticed all of the cars," one neighbor said. "Normally, there are no cars here that late at night."
That marked the start of a house party that would end up with two people under arrest and another in the hospital. If the cups strewn about the front of the house can't give a sense of what was going on, then take note that police say seven kegs of beer were confiscated at 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Cops say 20 to 30 people, ranging in age from 18 to 23, were inside. Twenty-one year-old Patrick McCourt and 23-year-old Patrick Keliher were charged with supplying alcohol to minors.
"They were over age," Ramapo detective sergeant John Lynch said. "One of the two purchased the kegs of beer. However, they were serving parties under 21, and that's illegal in New York."
The house on Route 202 was recently sold after being vacant for two years. Two weeks ago, it was rented by four students from nearby Ramapo College in New Jersey. Neighbors say they thought last night's gathering was a housewarming party.
An unidentified 22-year-old was taken to the hospital as a precaution after officers found him passed out.
"I didn't know that there was that much drinking going on," a neighbor said. "I just now heard that someone ended up in the hospital."
The arrests come one day after a former prosecutor was charged with supplying booze and marijuana for underage high school students, also in the town of Ramapo. The circumstances in the latest incident may be different, but police say the same zero-tolerance policy applies.
"I can't tell you that the trend is increasing," Lynch said. "I can you that you'll be arrested here if you're caught serving alcohol to minors."
The two suspects are charged with misdemeanors. They'll be back in court next week.
