Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Yardley Borough Police DepartmentPress Release – March 4, 2010
Re: Incidents occurring in Yardley Borough on February 20, 2010, related to the Sixx-Pak Entertainment’s “Playboy Mansion Dance Party”
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler and Yardley Borough Police Chief James O’Neill issued the following statement today concerning the events which took place in Yardley Borough on the night of February 20, 2010. The investigation by the Yardley Borough Police in consultation with the Bucks County District Attorney’s office has to date not yielded evidence which would support criminal charges against the organizers of the so-called “Playboy Mansion Dance Party” or their employees. However, the “party”, the true nature of which appears to have been concealed from those in charge of the Yardley Community Center where it was held, resulted in a series of deeply concerning incidents.
1. Numerous citations have already been issued by Yardley Borough authorities and other jurisdictions to intoxicated minors for underage drinking.
2. Investigation has disclosed the Chester County DUI arrest of a minor who drove from Yardley to West Chester after the event in an apparently intoxicated state. The minor, who was clocked at 81 miles per hour on Route 202 in West Whiteland Township when she was arrested, advised police that she drove from West Chester to Yardley to attend the “Playboy Mansion Party” and that she had brought no alcohol to the event with her. She stated that she became intoxicated during the event when a person or persons attending the party invited her to leave the event to drink in a nearby parking lot. She and another minor told West Whiteland Township police that they were permitted to come and go from the party two or three times, consuming more alcohol on each visit to the parking lot.
3. A 17 year old young woman was encountered by Yardley police in a parking lot near the Community Center in a severely intoxicated condition. EMS personnel found her temperature to be approximately 94 degrees when they were summoned by police. Such a temperature is potentially life threatening. Charges have been authorized against the adult male who accompanied the young woman and who admitted providing alcohol to her. The young woman stated that she was permitted to enter the party in a visibly intoxicated condition but was later told to leave the vicinity of the Community Center by party staff because of her intoxication. No action was taken by staff to secure aid or treatment for the severely impaired 17 year old.
4. Numerous young women attending the event were observed to be scantily clad. After the party, police gathered a substantial volume of clothing which included thongs, brassieres and “Bunny Ears”.
Heckler stated, “Fortunately, apart from the severely intoxicated young woman who was successfully treated and did not sustain permanent injury, a thorough investigation by the Yardley Borough police has to date not disclosed any other casualties of this event. This appears to have been a matter of good fortune rather than good planning by the persons organizing what amounted to a teen rave.”
“Municipal ordinances and fire codes are in place to prevent the kind of harm which can occur when hundreds of teenagers are brought together in an inadequate space. Thanks to prompt and vigorous action by the Yardley Borough police in the aftermath of the February 20 incident, the Bucks County community has been made aware that the organizers had been flying below the radar screen, misrepresenting critical aspects of their plans to the owners of the venues with whom they contracted.”
“Operators of the Yardley Community Center had been advised that Sixx-Pak Entertainment would conduct a “teen dance” which would be attended by between 150 and 200 persons. That number is well within the posted hall capacity of 264. The crowd observed by police dramatically exceeded that number. Unlike private parties in which hosts can be overwhelmed by uninvited gate crashers, in this case the organizers charged for attendance and were thus in a position to control the overall size of the party.
Chief O’Neill pointed out that management of the Center were advised that the organizers would prohibit persons attending the “dance” from leaving and then being re-admitted. However, it appears that organizers had no intention of living up to this requirement because they provided wristbands to those who were admitted. “Partyers who spoke with us during their investigation reported that they had been permitted to leave and return to the event without interference by the organizers’ employees. Some children reported that they were visibly intoxicated when they were permitted by event security to come and go from the party,” said the Yardley Chief.
“Plainly, the organizers were driven by the desire for profit,” Heckler observed. Water fountains in the center were covered and the organizers sold water and Red Bull to partyers. Event organizers represented the event they proposed as a teen dance to Yardley Community Center officials while telling young potential customers over social networking websites about a Playboy Mansion Party. They advertised to potential customers that “We have one goal in mind: To throw the Biggest & Wildest parties in Bucks County!!!” An earlier “teen dance” at the community center conducted by the same organizers was billed on-line as a gathering of “Corporate Hos and CEO’s”.
Heckler praised the efforts of the Yardley Borough police to discover the full extent and impact of the February 20 event. He observed, “Thanks to the efforts of the Yardley Borough police, other communities have been made aware of the potential for large and uncontrolled gatherings of “partyers” without advance notice to local authorities. Similarly, potential venues for future events have been alerted to the true nature of these events.” Heckler concluded, “Fortunately, no permanent injuries occurred as a result of the February 20 event. However, there was a serious potential for harm both inside the community center as a result of serious overcrowding and outside as a result of the large volume of unsupervised children, some abusing substances, who were attracted by the event.” “These events are aimed at teens, with no guarantee that those substantially younger than 15 will not be admitted. I hope that the parents of the children organizers have referred to as “Hos and CEO’s” will be alert to the nature of these “parties” and exercise informed parental supervision,” Heckler said.