Ten people were arrested and charged with underage drinking and disturbing the peace Thursday night at a Boston University fraternity party after a plainclothes Boston Police Department officer was invited into an Ashford Street home, BPD said.
Officers responded at 12:50 a.m. Friday morning to a call about a loud party at 16 Ashford St. Once inside, police said the officer observed about 100 partygoers, many of whom appeared to be underage, drinking alcohol. The plainclothes officer then let the other police officers inside and arrests were made, though many were able to flee, police said.
“It was something new for that house,” BPD spokesman Eddy Chrispin said of the tactic to try and get invited into the party. “It just made sense under the circumstances.”
This wasn’t the first time police had received complaints about the home. Officers had been called to the house several times to investigate “loud parties, disturbing the peace and a lot of underage drinking,” Chrispin said.
The investigation into the latest incident is ongoing, Chrispin said.
“It becomes a quality of life issue for a lot of the long-term residents [in the neighborhood],” he said. “We get a number of complaints on a regular basis about the loud parties.”
BU does not recognize homes as frat houses, but several members of the Chi Phi fraternity reside at the house, BU spokesman Colin Riley said.
Riley said that most of those arrested are BU students and will come before Judicial Affairs to determine if disciplinary action will be taken.
“We try to explain to students there are consequences for their actions, whether they are on or off campus,” Riley said.
Chi Phi member Jesse Lunenfeld, a senior in the College of Communication, said he had heard about the arrests, but had been “told not to comment by the national organization.” A representative from Chi Phi’s national office could not be reached last night.
Staff writer Evelyn Ratigan contributed to the reporting of this story.
