By Alan Sorensen
A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, a videotape is worth citations for the 23 people at an underage drinking party in late March.
The case against the underage drinkers and their suppliers began to unfold when Hill County Sheriff's deputies were notified of an arrest at Rocky Boy shortly before 2 a.m. March 24. Rocky Boy police reported catching an 18-year-old man with alcohol on the reservation and turned the non-member over to deputies.
Rocky Boy police called the sheriff's office later to say that they found a video camera belonging to Havre High School inside the man's vehicle.
Deputies checked with the school and were told that another student had checked the camera out to complete a class project.
After picking up the camera from the Chippewa Cree Tribal police department, deputies checked the videotape with school officials. What they found was not a class project.
It was a video tape of a drinking party that took place in Beaver Creek Park on March 23.
After further scrutinizing the tape and further investigation, deputies issued minor-in-possession of alcohol (MIP) tickets to 12 juveniles, eight MIP citations to underage adults 18 to 21, and three tickets for unlawful transactions with minors to three adults over 21.
