Amherst – Amherst Police Department officer Gabe Ting responded to a noise complaint last Saturday night, and discovered a party underway. A dramatic scenario ensued according to houseguests at the party, and residents of the house.
“Shit went down,” said Danielle Bonnici, resident of the house on North Prospect Street. “He searched stuff. He went into a cabinet and found a bong. He yelled at guests.”
The officer arrived at the house at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, April 22, according to a police report filed with the APD. He was responding to a noise complaint from a neighbor.
Officer Ting may have been provoked when a houseguest “grabbed his ass,” according to Patrick Roche, resident of the house, and senior BDIC major at UMass. “He got wicked pissed after that,” Roche said.
The officer went into the house to break up the party, after a resident’s attempts were not effective.
“Allow me to help you,” Ting said to one of the residents.
The officer went outside and spoke with residents of the house. He later returned into the house, went into a cabinet and found drug paraphernalia. The item was confiscated by Ting.
According to police officials, officer Ting had the right to arrest residents of the house; however, nobody was ultimately arrested as a result of Sunday’s incident.
“They said they could search the whole house for drugs and paraphenalia, but they said, ‘We won’t. We’re just going to give you a warning,'” said Bonnici.
An officer is allowed to enter a house, and arrest residents if they are “acting on a legitimate complaint” said APD officer Steve Zahn. He explained that police officers try to use their authority appropriately without taking advantage of it.
“We try to do it reasonably,” said Zahn.
The residents had purchased a keg of beer, and needed a permit to have it at their house. Anyone in the town of Amherst buying a keg needs to have a permit for the keg first, according to officer Zahn.
Upon leaving the North Prospect St. residence, officer Ting said, “We recommend that you don’t have any more parties.
– Simeon Bittman
