Baldwin woman charged under social host law

A Baldwin woman who allegedly let underage drinkers party at her home has been arrested under Nassau County's social-host law, police said.

She was charged after cops pursued a suspect in an unrelated case into the home Saturday about 1 a.m. and saw a "large house party," including empty alcohol containers and dozens of intoxicated people younger than 21, police said.

The 36-year-old woman, listed in police records as Michellie Chambers, "was present and aware of the party," police said.

According to a police spokeswoman, Chambers was also charged with resisting arrest because as officers tried to handcuff her, "She did not put her hands behind her back three times, and then she struggled with them."

Chambers will be arraigned April 27 at First District Court in Hempstead on the social-host charge, as well as resisting arrest and breaking Hempstead Town's anti-noise code, police said.

The person initially pursued into the home, at 1093 Washington Place, had reportedly fled a taxicab after arguing with the cabbie over the fare at corner of Washington Avenue and Eastern Parkway, police said.

No fare beater was caught, police said.

Nassau County's social-host law, signed in July 2007, makes it a misdemeanor for an adult to allow people who are younger than 21 to consume alcohol in the adult's home.

Punishments upon conviction include a $250 fine for a first offense and $1,000 and jail time for a third.

Under the law, parents may serve alcohol to their own children or to underage guests during religious observances.

Suffolk County has a similar social-host law, signed in December 2007, with similar provisions, punishments and religious exceptions.

By MATTHEW CHAYES
Posted Sunday, April 12, 2009

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