Athens party becomes a brawl

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A party with hundreds of Athens youths devolved into a melee that police had to shut down.

It apparently didn't involve students at the University of Georgia, but it did involve students: among the 300 or so participants at the alcohol-soaked event were kids young enough for high school and even middle school, the Athens Banner-Herald reported on its website Friday.

Officers found teens bloodied from fighting, including a 13-year-old girl. And there was evidence of drinking, including cups of alcohol, the newspaper reported. One cop grabbed a 16-year-old boy with a bottle of vodka outside the party, but had to let him go to deal with the brawl inside.

Police had to use a loudspeaker to shut down the party, which occurred Wednesday night at El Paisano restaurant, on North Avenue near the Athens Perimeter.

"I felt a continuation of this party would place all attendees at risk of being involved in further incidents of violence," an officer wrote in his incident report.