WATERVILLE — Police were called to an apartment in the South End for the second time in 48 hours Tuesday to break up an underage drinking party, and police say the address, the site of multiple calls, has become a nuisance.
The resident of the apartment, Kailynn DePesa, 30, was charged both Monday and Tuesday with furnishing a place for minors to consume liquor.
DePesa’s 69 Water St. apartment has become a nuisance for neighbors and officers are tiring of having to respond to the address to take care of the same issues time and again, Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey said Wednesday.
He said police have been called to the apartment at least 10 times in the past year to deal with noise and disturbances.
Police were called to the apartment most recently at 8:49 p.m. Tuesday when a neighbor complained that there was underage drinking there. Three people had been arrested and two summoned after a similar party early Monday morning.
At the scene Tuesday, officers encountered a group of minors in the apartment in “various stages of intoxication,” Rumsey said.
DePesa was charged with furnishing a place for minors to consume liquor, a class D criminal offense, as she was Monday. She had pleaded guilty to Monday’s charges and was sentenced to 12 hours of jail time and a $500 fine.
Also charged Tuesday were Aaliyah Gagliardi, 20, of Hill Road, Canaan, and Ashlyn Laliberte, 19, of Main Street, Canaan, for possession of alcohol by a minor, a civil offense. A 16-year-old boy from Winslow also was charged with possessing alcohol and was picked up at the apartment by his mother, Rumsey said.
Gagliardi and Laliberte also were charged for the same or similar offenses at the Monday party.
On Monday, DePesa and Gagliardi were arrested and Gagliardi was charged with assault after hitting the hand of a police officer. On Tuesday, officers “encountered varying levels of cooperation” but no physical resistance, Rumsey said.
The women weren’t arrested on Tuesday, but all were issued court summonses.
DePesa and Gagliardi weren’t in violation of bail conditions Tuesday because they had both had pleaded guilty to the charges from the Monday party. Gagliardi, like DePesa, was sentenced to 12 hours in jail and she was fined $300 Monday, according to Rumsey.
Possession of alcohol by a minor is a civil offense and carries no jail time, he said.
There are no alternatives for dealing with the situation aside from responding to complaints, Rumsey said.
“We can only enforce the law and take it to the court for adjudication,” he said.
Gagliardi has been charged 10 times in the past three years by Waterville police for possessing liquor and has similar charges from other local law enforcement agencies, Rumsey said. By his estimate, Gagliardi has paid at least $2,000 in fines for the Waterville charges.
He said the amount of money “certainly isn’t curbing her behavior,” he added.
“We certainly recognize that this is a problem for the neighborhood,” he said. “It is frustrating for us to continue to go down there night after night.”
Despite frustration, Rumsey said he’s glad neighbors are staying in contact with police and hopes they continue to call in complaints.
Peter McGuire — 861-9239
Twitter: PeteL_McGuire
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