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Partyers trash second home
Vacant house selected by ‘party crew,’ three injured
| Sunday, Mar 2 2008 9:25 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Mar 3 2008 7:13 AM
Another unruly party broke out in a vacant Bakersfield home Saturday night, and this time a youth was beaten unconscious and two others were badly hurt, according to neighbors who witnessed the attacks.
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Neighborhood children check out the vandalized home in the 5100 block of Yellow Rose Court on March 2 after it was trashed by people who were throwing a party the night before. The property has since been repaired.
Blood stains are caked onto the driveway of this home on Yellow Rose Court after fights broke out after a party early Sunday morning.
Broken window glass and several broken beer bottles are seen on the driveway of a home in the 5100 block of Yellow Rose Court Sunday evening.
Broken windows are seen on the front side of a home where neighbors said dozens of people were partying early Sunday morning.
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The party, in the 5100 block of Yellow Rose Court in south Bakersfield, followed one night after a report of teenagers and young adults breaking into a foreclosed Southwest home to stage a large bash. Together, the events could suggest a troubling trend of young people using vacant houses to throw unsupervised parties.
A search of real estate records Sunday turned up no evidence that the Yellow Rose Court home had gone into foreclosure.
A Bakersfield Police watch commander on duty Sunday said he had no information about the second incident.
Neighbors on Yellow Rose Court said about 50 teenagers were standing in the driveway by midnight, and that shortly thereafter the party became erratic, with people screaming, throwing bottles and even tearing down a fence.
Violence erupted at one point as some of the partygoers began hitting at least two people with baseball bats, neighbor Desiree Garcia said. Soon a boy was lying motionless on the lawn, and two girls were bleeding, one with shards of a broken bottle still stuck in her head, Garcia said.
“It was just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen,” Garcia said.
“We wanted to help, but how are you going to mess with 50 teenagers?” she asked, adding that she and others first called 911 at around 11:20 p.m., a little more than an hour before police arrived. She said an ambulance drove up at about 12:55 a.m. to take away the boy, who had regained consciousness but had lost a lot of blood.
Garcia’s father, David Garcia, said the partygoers did not appear to be gang members.
“Gang members wouldn’t have thrown rocks,” he said. “They would have shot you.”
On Sunday afternoon, the property bore signs of a party gone bad. At least two dried pools of blood marked the driveway, and several windows had been busted out.
Teenagers living near the house said the party was organized by a so-called party crew that scouted out the location the night before and were charging young men $3 a head to enter, and that young women got in free. The teenagers, who said they did not attend the party but showed up as the crowd was dispersing, asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.
Garcia confirmed that people had broken into the house Friday night, and that the intruders left after police were called.
The house has sat empty for months, Garcia said. A “for sale” sign, now knocked down, had been posted out front. The real estate agent listed on the sign was not available for comment Sunday.
At a separate party early Saturday in the 4500 block of Whitegate Avenue, about 50 teenagers and young adults broke into a foreclosed home and threw a raging party.
Neighbors said police dispersed the partygoers, but not before some made off with the home’s high-end appliances.