Monday: Officials aim to crack down on underage drinking
BY AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer
Sunday, March 17, 2013
In one week, parents Kristi Montgomery and Shane Emerson went from the elation of welcoming a new grandchild to their family to overnight hospital stays caring for their teen son who was injured in a serious car crash.
Their son Hunter Emerson was 15 years old in July when he was ejected from a sport utility vehicle driven by a friend’s mother, Heidi Annette Fain of Broken Arrow. He suffered a broken cervical vertebrae and shoulder blade as well as several serious scrapes and large cuts, one of which required staples to his scalp. Police at the scene assert Fain was driving under the influence of alcohol; her defense attorney maintains she was not.
Hunter described Fain’s home as a known party house, where teens could — and did — smoke cigarettes and marijuana and drink nearly every weekend.
Though prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Fain, Hunter’s family doesn’t think enough has been done to prevent adults who provide alcohol to minors from causing more heartache to families of teens.
The Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverages Law Enforcement Commission is working to combat the problem of underage drinking and has designated the weeks between spring break and area high school graduations as a special enforcement period.
Read more in Monday's Tulsa World.
Associated Images:
ABLE Commission Agents Erik Smoot (right) and Pedro Zardeneta talk with Joey Munson (left), a clerk at a Tulsa liquor store on Friday. The agency is stepping up enforcement of underage drinking laws as spring break, prom and graduation season approaches. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
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