| May. 17th, 2012

How the Cops Laid Siege on Colby Student Party

Of Public Interest

By Exception Staff | September 21, 2011

A perpetual power struggle exists between the police in the poor mill town of Waterville, Maine and the privileged students who attend Colby College, an elite liberal arts school that costs an estimated $55,400 per year to attend. For example, in 2009, a group of Colby students alleged that the local cops beat a student of color in response to a drinking incident.

This time around, newspapers from Maine to Houston, Texas have reported on the news that 54 Colby College students now face alcohol charges related to an off-campus party over the weekend. Three students who hosted the booze-filled bash at 16 Winter Street in Waterville were arrested and charged with providing a place where minors can drink.

As if the relationship between college administrators and town officials wasn't awkward enough already, one of the arrested students is Christopher Boghossian, the son of Rhode Island real estate developer Paul Boghossian. Paul Boghossian is a Colby alum who has been recognized by the college and the community for his major renovation project at the old Hathaway shirt factory in town. The other two arrested students are Taggert Martin and Mads Ydemark.

According to the local police, who shared their side of the big bust to the Kennebec Journal, the students refused to let the police enter the apartment building after they received a tip about under-age drinking. The police "secured the scene" until a warrant could be served and questioned all students who decided to leave the party. Once they got the warrant, the police found a keg and a bunch of students hiding out.

A tipster, who was not personally at the party but knows some of the attendees, has provided additional details to the Exception about how the cops laid siege to the building:

[Our source] They trapped the kids in the house by surrounding the house with cars and the block was surounded by cops in street clothes. So they kept them there until they got a warrant and could smoke them out with dogs. It was locked down.

[The Exception] Smoke them out with dogs?

[Our source] Yeah. Kids were hiding inside. Couldn't get out 'cause if they stepped out onto the street they were surrounded. So they hunkered down inside and eventually, around 3 in the morning, the cops finally got their warrant. And walked through the house with a dog, sniffing out the closets.

[The Exception] For weed?

[Our source] No, for people.

Police Chief Joseph Massey presented the party as an out-of-control rager to the Kennebec Journal, claiming "In one room they found about 18 kids and in that room was a wastebasket that they said had about a foot of vomit in it. I guess you drink till you vomit."

Says our source:

"One girl that we know used the three hours to try to sober up. She ate saltines, drank water, and ate tums, and managed to get her BAC to .000. So, a theory is that the bucket of puke was actually for trying to clear alcohol out of the system."

What really happened that night? Share your insights with us at editor@exceptionmag.com or in the comments section below. We respect the privacy of our sources and will publish anonymous tips if needed.