3 Charged in Helping Underage Partiers Get Booze

After a complaint about young adults at a party on Haskell Lane, police arrested three young men on charges they provided booze to underage drinkers or permitted it.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the incident:

At about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, someone called police to say a party with a large number of teenagers was taking place at 5 Haskell Ln., with noise and music coming from the back yard. The caller also said a cooler had been left outside the house, and a lot of cars were parked on the street.

Police who went to the scene saw the cooler, along with an empty box of Bud Light beer. There was no response when they went to the front door, knocked and rang the doorbell.

Police then walked around the house to the back yard, where a ping-pong table had been set up and was holding a large number of Bud Light cans, together with a variety of liquor bottles.

About 20 people were at the party, some over 21 years old, most under. The parents of the party host were away, police were told.

Daniel Coyle, 18, of Haskel Lane said he hosted the party but didn't provide any alcohol. Coyle was charged with permitting the possession of alcohol by minors, an infraction.

Two men were charged with providing alcohol to minors: Jeffrey Harris, 24, of North Main Street in Port Chester, and Tucker Blandford, 22, of Middle Ridge Road in Stamford. Each man was later released after posting a $200 bond pending appearances in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Harris and Blandford admitted that they brought alcohol to the party but said it was for their own consumption and for people who were of legal drinking age.

But Police determined that they didn't keep an eye on the booze. Harris had brought a 30-pack of Bud Light. Blandford had brought Jack Daniels. Police confiscated the alcoholic beverages -- which also included a bottle of vodka and Stella Artois beer of an undetermined provenance and took it back to headquarters.

Where it was destroyed.

Police didn't say how.