BENTON COUNTY — A Saturday night party was an “awesome party till it got busted,” said one girl on Facebook.
About 40 youths from Pea Ridge, Rogers, Bentonville and southwestern Missouri were partying at 15780 Easterling Road north of the Pea Ridge city limits when Benton County Sheriff’s Office deputies knocked on the front door.
“They all scattered,” BCSO Lt. Rich Conner said. “Most were stopped by Pea Ridge police officers. A couple continued to flee on foot.”
According to the Pea Ridge Police report, when the young people began running toward the field and woods behind the house, police turned on their flashlights and announced their presence.
Most of the young people returned to the house as instructed, police said. One man, John Botson, 18, continued to run, climbed fences, then ran into another police officer stationed at a nearby residence. Botson was arrested and returned to deputies at the scene, according to the report.
“We received a tip from someone in the Rogers school district,” Conner said about how law enforcement found out about the party.
Twenty-two people were cited; two were arrested and booked into Benton County Jail. Many were released to their parents.
“There were youths there who were not drinking,” Conner said, adding that girls as young as 14 were there.
Ricardo Schneider, 18, was renting a room at the residence, which is listed on county records as owned by Joseph Younce and Angela Lambert.
In July 2011, Arkansas law changed, adding that the body was included as a container. Anyone under 21 with alcohol in their system can be charged with minor in possession.
“In Arkansas, it is illegal for anyone under 21 to possess or drink alcohol,” Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said.
Nearly one-third of all deaths of 15- to 20-yearolds are the result of a motor vehicle crash and about35 percent of those fatalities are alcohol-related, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
News, Pages 1 on 03/21/2012