When police raided a Hartford nightclub for illegally serving liquor to minors last Thursday, they not only arrested the owner and employees accused of serving the alcohol but also all 113 minors in the club - something that has upset several UConn students who were arrested, but claim they weren't drinking and didn't have a chance to prove it.
The club, Temptation on Asylum, was advertising an 18-and-over night and a bus to bring students from the Storrs campus to the club and back with, during which it was raided. When police raided the club they allegedly found liquor and kegs on a floor that was designated to be an area for minors where no alcohol would be served.
All of the 113 arrested minors were charged with possession of alcohol and loitering where alcohol is served. Several of the arrested students contacted by The Daily Campus said that although they were arrested for possession of alcohol, they were not drinking and when they approached police about taking sobriety tests, the police refused.
"They didn't breathalize us, they didn't give sobriety tests, they have no proof we were drinking," said one arrested UConn student, who asked not to be identified.
The police do not have to give sobriety tests, said Nancy Mulroy, the Hartford Police Department's Public Information Officer, who added that the issue was about more than possession of alcohol, because all of the students were also charged with loitering where alcohol is served.
"It wasn't about just drinking," she said. "There is a law called loitering on a permit presence that prohibits a minor, somebody under 21, from being in an establishment where liquor is being actively dispensed."
However, when the arrested minors appeared in Hartford Community Court, the loitering charges were unilaterally dropped because court officials said that the loitering charge only applies to the club's owner, according to The Hartford Courant. This left possession of alcohol as the only charge.
"I'm not second guessing the judge," Mulroy said when asked about the loitering charges being dropped of the loitering charges. "We take underage drinking very seriously in the city."
Another complaint from some of those charged was the amount of time it took to be released.
"It was ridiculous," said the student. "We were held in the bar area with an officer watching us for about two hours."
After waiting in the bar, the student said she was transported to a police station, where she and five others were left in a stall for two hours. Then she was moved to another stall for, "four or five" hours before having her fingerprints and mug shot taken. She claimed she was finally released at 7:45 a.m. Friday.
Other arrested students contacted by The Daily Campus said they were not released until even later in the morning.
Mulroy disagreed, saying that every arrested minor was released earlier in the morning.
"The last person was released at 5:38 a.m.," she said. "That's pretty good for 117 people. ... It was just as burdensome on us [as it was on the minors] ... our booking division was overwhelmed."
"If somebody feels strongly that they were not treated properly ... we take complaints very seriously here," said Mulroy. "There is a complaint form they can download and submit. ... It will be investigated by internal affairs."
When they appeared in court, the accused were offered a deal that will remove the charge from their records.
"The deal is that we have to read a 350-page book, write an essay on it, read [the] essay in court, do 12 hours of community service and go to [a] MADD meeting," said the student, who also has to go to another meeting about alcohol at UConn as part of the agreement.
Students who chose not to take the deal and plead not guilty are due back in court April 27, according to The Hartford Courant.
"It annoys me that we have to do so much work for not doing anything wrong," the student said. "It was 18-and-over night and we weren't drinking."
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