Investigation
Teens dupe neighbors to throw party at vacant home
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- It all started with a fake flyer that led to a party full of underage drinking at a vacant house in a guard-gated community. Now, Clark County School District Police and Contact 13's Darcy Spears are investigating.
The house in Rhodes Ranch is nothing short of trashed. Broken bottles, papers, torn-out smoke detectors and a smashed window -- all signs a party happened at the vacant home on Friday night.
"I saw kids from 14 to 16 to 18 going in and out in groups of five or ten," said Vincent Jones, who lives nearby.
Neighbors, including Jones, didn't think there was anything wrong because of the flyer distributed door-to-door about an hour before the party started. The flyer said the Sierra Vista High School Dance team was presenting the party for all school district dance teams, families and friends. It even said dance coaches were to meet at the address an hour early.
But there's a big problem with that. The school district says Sierra Vista doesn't even have a dance team. It was eliminated because of budget cuts a few years ago. The party was not a school-sanctioned event.
"There were kids outside, two in particular, taking money -- $5 a head for people to get into the house," said Jones.
Anyone who brought a bottle of booze got in free, one party-goer told Contact 13. Students were texting about the party at school all day leading up to the event.
Jones estimates as many as 100 to 150 people were at the house on Friday night, packing it completely.
Neighbors called Las Vegas police after they say Rhodes Ranch security failed to respond. But by the time officers responded, all the kids had scattered.
"Any time we have a party, especially one that's well-advertised in advance, there is an opportunity for people that are maybe not invited to come to the house party," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officer Laura Meltzer. "Fights can ensue and in a couple of cases, we have had some homicides that have taken place at parties like this."
Meltzer said neighbors should have notified police when they saw a flyer advertising a party at a vacant house.
Although LVMPD said there were no reports of anyone getting injured at the house party, Action News found droplets of blood and partial bloody footprints on the kitchen floor.
No one from the school or the district would go on camera, but they said Sierra Vista administration knew nothing about the party. A copy of the flyer was given to school district police to investigate.
Contact 13 notified the homeowners, who live in California. They had no idea what happened at the house and will be filing a criminal report with Metro.
The homeowners' main concern is how something like this could happen in the security-guard-gated community of Rhodes Ranch. It's a place where they thought their vacant home was safe. Now, they want answers as to why neighbors say security failed to respond to repeated complaints.
Multiple calls to Rhodes Ranch security and the Homeowners' Association were not returned.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.