Thursday, March 03, 2016

Man charged with 110 counts in Bethesda drinking party that drew 125 people

Charges have been filed against a man now alleged to be behind that epic underage drinking party I had an exclusive story on back in January. At the time, Montgomery County Police 2nd District commander Captain David Falcinelli told me he had been in touch with American University about the incident, which involved that school's students. One student had been transported to Sibley Hospital after an altercation with another at the bash, at which police found 125 people in attendance.

A woman passed out being carried out to a car, a police officer attacked, deplorable conditions, and a front door barricaded with a couch. These are some of the many details ABC7 reporter Kevin Lewis has uncovered in a report yesterday.

Lewis reports that the house on Walhonding Road is actually an American University frat house. How a frat can afford a home in the 20816 zip code is certainly an interesting question. Lewis says the house was home to the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at AU.

Tyler Steinhardt, the alleged host of the party, has now been charged with 110 counts of serving alcohol to minors, Lewis reports. The charges come as County police officials have made a priority of stopping the practice of adults providing, or facilitating the consumption of, alcohol for minors.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fraternities are an example of what happens when a group of non-progressives are allowed to pool their money together. It cannot hide the fact that they have no class. The dining clubs of Princeton, secret societies of Yale or finishing clubs of Harvard would never behave like this. AU? I wouldn't let my domestic's children go there.

Anonymous said...

Why does Dyer support Prohibition against young adults? As a libertarian, he opposes most or all restrictions on the sale of alcohol, yet in this case, he supports the MoCo Machine's draconian enforcement of the highest drinking age in the industrialized world.

Anonymous said...

"How a frat can afford a home in the 20816 zip code is certainly an interesting question." Is it really? How can a frat for a college whose annual tuition is around $60,000 a year afford a house in Bethesda?

That's the sarcastic answer. The real answer is that they bough the house in 1989: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5906-Walhonding-Rd-Bethesda-MD-20816/37176479_zpid/

And the frat itself is very rich (and also has a very checkered past): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Kappa_Alpha

Anonymous said...

the air blew a .09. LOL

We all attended parties like that in college (except probably for Dyer) and survived. Big deal. The fact that an 18, 19 or 20 year old can't legally drink but can be shipped off to fight in a war is absurd.

Anonymous said...

Say... Isn't Dyer an AU alum?

And shouldn't he disclose that?

Anonymous said...

Feel so bad for him. Disgusting that you, and Kevin Lewis, have continued to post about this when there is actual real news. It is college, students throw parties. Especially Kevin Lewis, who for whatever reason thought it was necessary to say he runs a non-for profit for veterans.

Robert Dyer said...

6:33: I don't recall taking a stand either way on that in this article.

Anonymous said...

Don't remember "college students" being excepted from the law.
They broke the law. There are consequences.
+1 to MCPD.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous journalism here. First, you have probably never seen an actual frat house owned by the fraternity because they often (especially in the south) cost well over a million dollars. They could easily afford a house in 20816 if they wanted to. In this case though, the house is being rented from the owners. A bunch of rich kids could easily pool money to rent a house in 20816. Leave the college kids alone!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe neighbors would want a frat house on their street. Imagine the noise, vandalism and destruction that would be the inevitable result of these parties.

Anonymous said...

How is this news? Or even more, journalism? Perhaps this would be a good time for you to leave your Bethesda bubble and mosey down the street where real life problems occur every minute of every day. Use your platform to heal the world, not sit behind a computer and gossip. Those naughty frat boys boost our economy so we can live in this cushy utopia and blog about things like a Whole Foods opening. I'm embarrassed to be your neighbor, not theirs.

Anonymous said...

10:46AM - developer post?

Anonymous said...

Nope. Just a neighbor down the street. Didn't even know it was a "frat" house. Let's stop focusing on vitriol and use our time and efforts to not only worry about and discuss, but actually tackle real issues. Go to a homeless shelter and volunteer. Work with kids in city schools' aftercare programs. It's not too much to ask for accurate and responsible "reporting".

Anonymous said...

The vitriol as you say is from commenters. There is nothing irresponsible in the article. What are you taking issue with? That County police officials have made a priority of stopping the practice of adults providing, or facilitating the consumption of, alcohol for minors?

Anonymous said...

11:41 I guess you don't mind loud parties or drunk drivers on your street.
Others don't feel that way.

Anonymous said...

Everyone misses the big point.....typical MoCo cops over kill.

Come on....an under age drinking party the kid gets 110 counts.

We need a new MoCo Chief of Police and stop this nonsense.

Please dont get me wrong....charge the kid....dont execute him.

Anonymous said...

Guess I figure if those minors are 18 and old enough to vote or fight for our country, they're the ones responsible for their actions. other than all the lyft and uber drivers coming down the street, I haven't noticed a thing.

Anonymous said...

These frat guys must know the consequences of getting caught. They took their chances, they shouldn't be let off easy.
Another thing, I can't imagine how trashed and gross this house is, who would rent their house to these bums?! "Alcohol dripped through the floorboards" according to the abc7 story. Yuck.

Anonymous said...

Did the neighbor down the street send criticisms to the TV stations who picked up this story as well?
I think it's nuts to want to live on a street with this kind of frat house. It should be shut down.

Anonymous said...

Yeah..it's just good, clean fun until you find out it's your underage daughter going to the hospital in an Uber...