Pubdate: Mon, 09 Oct 2000 Source: San Luis Obispo County Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Tribune Contact: P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112 Fax: 805.781.7905 Website: http://www.thetribunenews.com/ Author: Erin Green, The Tribune POLICE ARREST 23 AT SLO PARTY 19- To 21-year-olds Used Drugs, Authorities Say Twenty-three people were arrested in San Luis Obispo early Sunday on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance at what police are calling a rave. Police were investigating a noise complaint at the Los Verdes condominium complex on Linda Way when they found approximately 50 people at a house party. As officers approached, many party-goers fled the scene, including one man who police say shattered the glass in a window and jumped out. Police say the 23 people arrested had taken Ecstasy — methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA — a synthetic amphetamine derivative that produces feelings of euphoria and is widely known as the drug of choice at raves. Raves are underground parties with secret locations where enthusiasts dance to music with fast, pulsating beats. All of those arrested were between the ages of 19 and 21, and all but one were local residents. Sgt. Bruce Lahargoue said they were transported to the police department where they were cited and released. Twenty-four-year-old Myra Petraeus, a resident of the complex, was returning home from work around midnight and was met by "loud techno music" and "whooping and hollering" from a condo nearby. "I could hear the music clear as a bell," she said. "Some girl kept coming outside screaming and laughing real loud." When a family member could not sleep because of the noise, Petraeus' mother called the police. The residents of the condo where the party took place refused to comment on the party or the arrests. The arrests mark the fourth time this year an event believed to be a rave has been broken up. In August, Morro Bay officers found underage drinkers and people under the influence of Ecstasy at a dance party at Flippo's Surfside Skate Harbor. The Morro Bay resident who rented the skating rink for the party denies it was a rave. Sheriff's deputies stopped a Pozo party before it ever got started in July, turning away more than a hundred vehicles headed for the event. Deputies found information about the party on a Web site. And in May, six people at a supposed rave were found in possession of Ecstasy and arrested during an undercover sting at The Forum on Marsh in San Luis Obispo. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D