QUEENSBURY -- A local businesswoman was arrested Saturday night after police broke up an underage drinking party at her home that apparently attracted nearly 75 people, officials said.
The woman's lawyer, though, said she hosted a non-alcoholic party for her children, and "swarms" of teens with alcohol crashed the gathering.
"It started out fine, but within 30 minutes the house was overtaken by a bunch of marauding teenagers, a swarm of total party-crashers," lawyer Greg Canale said.
One 16-year-old girl required treatment at Glens Falls Hospital, and two other teens were charged in connection with the Halloween party in the upscale Hudson Pointe neighborhood.
Laura LaPoint, 47, was charged with unlawfully dealing with a child, a misdemeanor, in connection with the party at her 19 Danford Court home, according to the Warren County Sheriff's Office.
She was arrested after the Sheriff's Office received a tip about a possible underage drinking party at the home and sheriff's officers went there just after 11 p.m. to find "dozens" of young people running from the home into nearby woods, abut the Hudson River, police said.
Police said the 16-year-old girl was "in and out of consciousness" but no further details about her condition were released.
Police would not say how many of the teens they managed to detain, but said that an attendee of the party who had not been drinking estimated 75 people were present.
Two were also charged, however. They were identified as Robert Adams, 18, of Maple Drive, Queensbury, who was charged with the misdemeanor of resisting arrest and non-criminal violation of prohibited possession of alcohol, and Laura C. St. Andrews, 17, of Fuller Road, Queensbury, who was charged with the non-criminal violation of trespass.
Police did not say what either teen was accused of doing.
LaPoint, ex-wife of former local major league baseball player Dave LaPoint, has at least one teenage child.
She is the former owner of Pitcher's Sports Bar in Glens Falls, and operated Doc's Steakhouse in Saratoga Springs in recent years after selling the bar. But the restaurant went out of business earlier this year after the company declared bankruptcy.
LaPoint would not discuss the incident Monday. She answered her home phone and told a reporter she would call back in a "couple of hours," but did not return the call.
Canale returned the call on her behalf, and said that LaPoint and another parent tried to get the party-crashers to leave, to no avail. He said they "took over the house."
"She took immediate remedial action," Canale said. "She would never condone underage use of alcohol."
LaPoint and the two teens were released pending prosecution in Queensbury Town Court.
Posted in Local on Monday, November 2, 2009 12:10 pm Updated: 2:37 pm.
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