Juvenile drinking sends three to hospital

RONAN - Underage drinking reared its ugly head again this week, as a Friday evening party in Ronan sent three youngsters to the hospital.

According to law enforcement officials, Friday's incident, which took place at the Pache Homesites and involved tribal member youth, was a very close brush with yet another alcohol-related fatality.

Of the eight juveniles partying with both hard liquor and beer at 250 Sundown, at about 5:39 p.m. last Friday, three wound up at hospitals due to their alcohol consumption.

One 12-year-old was airlifted from St. Luke Hospital to Missoula's St. Patrick Hospital. That youngster was found at the party scene, passed out and with a blood alcohol concentration of .387.

Another underage drinker was transported by ambulance from St. Luke to St. Patrick Hospital.

The third hospitalized juvenile was taken by ambulance to St. Luke Hospital.

One of the partiers was 11 years old. That youngster's blood alcohol count was not known at press time Tuesday.

"We are only releasing limited information because these are juveniles," Lake County Undersheriff Mike Sargeant said. "This is a joint investigation between the Sheriff's office and Tribal Law and Order."

He and county detective Dan Yonkin said that Friday's incident follows the pattern of the ongoing rash of juvenile drinking on the Flathead Reservation.

This past winter and spring, a total of four reservation youngsters, some as young as 11 years old, drank themselves to death.

According to Sargeant, the mother of one juvenile girl showed up at the Pache residence to get her daughter. "Otherwise, there's a good possibility that we would have had another fatality," he commented.

Some of the juvenile drinkers had skipped school Friday, but others had not, Yonkin said.

Tribal Police Chief Craige Couture said that five tribal officers, including himself, responded to the scene. "The timely response possibly saved a life," he remarked, adding that he could not release more details at this time.