Parents cited for underage-drinking party

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A Pewaukee couple and their teenage son will pay a total of $2,700 in fines for hosting a youth party that resulted in three alcohol-related traffic deaths.

Scott and Charlene Wetzel and their 18-year-old son Jason were initially given 26 citations by Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel. A judge accepted a plea deal in which Charlene accepted four citations, and the two male defendants accepted one ticket.

The DA said the fines send a strong message that it’s not acceptable for adults to provide alcohol to other people’s children. All three people killed in the traffic crash were 18 – Hartland Arrowhead High School graduates Kody Koepke and Timothy Peters, and Arrowhead senior Ian Glidden.

Koepke had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit from what he drank at the Wetzels’ party. Police said he was going 53 miles-per-hour in a 30-mph zone when the car slammed into a utility pole.

Schimel said nine underage people admitted drinking at the party, and it was was almost certain that more alcohol was provided than the 30-pack of beer that Charlene was caught with.

Tags: wisconsin, crime, courts