Spring Break
Students Upset Over Hartford Club Arrests
Andrew Porter
Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: News
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.
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.
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