Teens’ party leads to arrests

By Ed Runyan

All of the youths were from Cortland, except for one from Warren.

CORTLAND — Police charged 10 young adults with underage consumption and disorderly conduct, and five juveniles with obstructing official business and being unruly, after officers broke up a party above the garage at a city councilwoman’s house.

Police were called to Park Avenue and Lattin Street about 1 a.m. Thursday for a fight and observed people running as the officers approached Main Street near Park Avenue.

Officers apprehended one youth and began looking for others in the rear garage of 137 Market St., about a block north, a Cortland police report says. Officers heard noises coming from an upstairs area of the garage.

There, officers found 10 youths, all of them 21 or younger, and many beer cans, bottles of clear liquid and a cooler containing an unknown alcoholic beverage, the report says.

Officers then went to the house to talk to the homeowner, Deidre Petrosky, a Cortland councilwoman and former candidate for Cortland mayor.

Donald and Diedre Petrosky, when contacted at their home Friday, said they had no comment on the matter.

One witness told police that one of the juveniles had told those in the room above the garage that there would be a fight at Park and Lattin, so the youths went to the location and watched as several unknown people in two vehicles argued.

When it was over, the youths were walking back to the room above the garage, noticed police and began to run. Some ran back to the room above the garage and others went elsewhere, the witness said.

Officers also found speed limit and other types of street signs in the room above the garage. No charges have been filed in relation to the signs, said Jason Smith, a Cortland patrolman and the Lake-view schools resource officer.

Police also later arrested various individuals in the area around the Petrosky residence and found tubes and other marijuana-smoking paraphernalia inside of a car parked in front of the residence, the report said.

No charges have been filed in relation to the drug paraphernalia.

Smith said police will confer with Sean O’Brien, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, to determine whether charges will be filed against any adults at the Petrosky residence the night of the party.

The adults charged are: Stephen T. Burns, 18; Nicholas L. Schuller III, 18; Jonathan M. Wazelle, 21; Ryland M. Hardman, 18; David J. Petrosky, 18; Grahm R. Governor, 19; Brittney K. Zemko, 19; Matthew B. Kohut II, 20; Kyle B. Munson, 19; and Kyle G. Smedi, 18.

All of the charges are misdemeanors.

Charges against the five juveniles will be turned over to the Trumbull County Juvenile Court, Smith said. All of the adults and four of the five juveniles are from Cortland. One juvenile is from Warren.

Some of the adults were arraigned in Central District Court in Cortland on Friday. Others will be arraigned there Monday.

Smith said there have been a large number of arrests in the city for underage drinking in recent years, but he’s not sure it indicates a large drinking problem in Cortland.

“We are probably a little more aggressive in the enforcement of it,” he said. “The unfortunate thing we find is that quite a few parents feel that it is OK” for their underage children to drink alcohol, he added.

runyan@vindy.com