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| Beer cans and cups litter the beach near the South Fletcher Avenue house rented by 10 teens from Georgia. In addition to the trash, the cooler was full of beer, tequila and mixers. Police broke up the party Monday. Photos courtesy of the Fernandina Beach Police Department
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The party's over - city cracks down on underage drinking
By Ryan Smith, News-Leader
Fernandina Beach Police arrested 10 people Monday for underage drinking on the beach. All 10 were from Georgia and staying at a rented beach house on South Fletcher Avenue.
According to police reports, Officer Rhonda Sanderson was patrolling the area when she saw a large group of young people on the beach near the 100 block of South Fletcher Avenue.
Sanderson reported that she could see beer cans and plastic cups, and thought the people appeared to be teenagers.
As she approached, several of the young people fled to a rental house at 144 South Fletcher and locked the door.
Sanderson then approached 10 people on the beach and found them all to be under 21.
"All of the suspects had Solo cups sitting next to their chair. All of the cups contained alcoholic beverages," Sanderson wrote in her report. "... Two coolers were next to them
and both coolers were full of alcoholic beverages, both beer and
liquor. All of the people present stated that they did not know who the coolers belonged to or how the
coolers got in the middle of their area."
Sanderson also found a marijuana pipe in a beach bag, but could not ascertain to whom it belonged.
Arrested were Kristopher Joel Anderson, 18, Thomas Anthony Thigpen, 18, and Mercades Lynn Mack, 19, all of Blackshear, Ga., along with seven girls between 16 and 17 years old, all from Georgia.
Sanderson wrote that once at the station, the suspects attempted to give false information about their parents and claimed not to know their phone numbers, addresses and other personal information.
All the suspects were released that day, according to Fernandina Beach Police Capt. David Bishop.
"They've all been charged with possession of alcohol under 21 years of age," he said. "(The three adults) were released on a notice to appear and the others were released to their parents."
Bishop said police, in conjunction with the Nassau Alcohol, Crime and Drug Abatement Coalition, would be cracking down on underage drinking as the weather warms up and tourist season begins.
"Summer's coming, and we've started extra enforcement in the beach areas and the parks area, which hopefully will continue throughout the summer," he said.
The Georgia teens apparently were renting the house from a private individual. The city is considering expanding its resort rental zoning along the oceanfront and into other city neighborhoods to allow more weekly vacation rentals. That has proved controversial with local residents in the past who oppose short-term rentals.
rsmith@fbnewsleader.com
Story created Apr 11, 2011 - 08:05:00 PDT.
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