‘Tragedy’ may have been prevented

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 06:46 pm

Wiscasset Police Chief Troy Cline

Two teens have been charged after authorities followed up on a tip alleging that underage kids at a Wiscasset high school dance had been drinking and doing drugs.

At about 9:15 p.m., Jan. 15, Lincoln County Communications (LCC) received a text message through Dare to Care LTip, Report Underage Drinking. This service has been sponsored by Healthy Lincoln County and Lincoln County Law Enforcement to receive anonymous tips from the public reporting underage drinking.

The “tipster” advised LCC that there were underage kids at the Wiscasset High School Dance that had been drinking and doing drugs. They went on to say that one was a sophomore and one was a junior and identified the juveniles involved by name. The “tipster” also told LCC that the juveniles both smelled of alcohol. School Resource Officer (SRO) Tom Hoepner was at the dance already as part of his duties. On-duty Officer Alfred “Willy” Simmons received the information from LCC and responded to Wiscasset Middle High School to assist SRO Hoepner with this complaint.

The students allegedly involved in this incident were located then taken to the office at which time parents were notified. One student had alcohol and the other had a usable amount of marijuana. One female was identified as being 17 years old and the other female was identified as being 15 years old.

It should also be noted that there was a 16-year-old female student from Morse High School that drove all of the females to the dance however, she was not charged with any crimes.

SRO Hoepner has charged the juveniles accordingly. The Wiscasset School Department will be dealing with any administrative actions taken against the students separate from the law enforcement action taken.

This is a fine example of a system designed to keep our youth in Lincoln County safe and it worked exactly the way it was supposed to. The Wiscasset Police Department works very closely with staff at Wiscasset schools and will continue to do so. We may have prevented a tragedy from happening had these young females driven intoxicated.