Harvard Docs: 'We Agreed to a No-Alcohol Party'
Harvard couple arrested after high school graduates appear drunk at party.
June 8, 2010— -- Two Harvard Medical School doctors are facing misdemeanor charges for serving alcohol to minors after 70 teenagers were hauled to a police station in paddywagons on suspicion of underage drinking during a graduation party in Weare, N.H.
But the doctors who hosted the party say they did nothing wrong and made every attempt to keep the party in order.
"Our mistake was saying 'yes' to the party in general. We made it clear from the moment our daughter approached us about hosting a party, that no drugs or alcohol would be permitted, " said Dr. J. Wesley Boyd.
Boyd, 46, and his wife Dr. Theonia Boyd, 49, agreed to host a party to celebrate their daughter's graduation from St. Paul's High School, a private school in Concord, N.H.
"We agreed to a no-alcohol party. No alcohol or drugs," says Boyd. "Our daughter sent two e-mails out to her class stating that."
Boyd said that he and his wife hosted the event at a friend's country home because it had a lot of space so the kids -- and three parent chaperones -- could camp out. Pizza and soda were provided and that's when Boyd said his wife again reiterated the rules.
"My wife stood up on a table to be heard by all the kids, congratulated them and said, 'This is a no alcohol, no drug party' and questioned if anyone present had a problem with that," said Boyd. "And no one responded."
Throughout the night, Boyd said that he and the other parent chaperones walked around the party and saw "no alcohol or anyone looking like that had been drinking alcohol."
After 9 p.m., Boyd was playing ping pong with some of the kids when he saw the flashing police lights. "The party got raided because of a noise complaint. A cop walked in and asked if this was my party and when I responded 'yes', he told me I was arrested and put me in the back of the cop car."
Boyd continued to describe how the police then divided the teenagers into two groups -- those who looked like they had and hadn't been drinking. They were all driven to the local police station to be processed and were released to their parents.
Police say the Needham, Mass., coupled were charged Sunday with facilitating an underage drinking party, according to the Associated Press. Charges weren't filed against any of the students.
Boyd told WCVB-Boston that "he was surprised when police showed him photos of beer containers strewn in the yard."
He said his daughter is "mortified," because she was trying to do something nice for her friends. He said he and his wife have replayed events over and over in their minds and their big mistake was saying yes to the party in the first place.
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