An Illinois State Police task force netted 88 underage drinkers – 70 of them Bradley students – and arrested a handful of others for various criminal offenses, including a felony drug charge, the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Operation Campus/TAP plainclothes officers were walking the Bradley area early on Nov. 21 when they came across a large party at 704 Duryea Place, which is a university-owned rental property.
Those cited face a fine to the city as well as punishments imposed by the university. Students on their third drinking offense face expulsion.
William R. Betke, 21, was arrested during the bust and booked on charges of manufacturing/delivery of marijuana, production of marijuana plants, possessing between 2.5 and 10 grams of marijuana, possessing drug paraphernalia and obstructing justice.
A little more than a year ago, Betke was arrested for a marijuana growing operation in the basement of the same house.
In August 2008, university maintenance worker saw a pipe coming out of the basement of the home. He entered the residence to investigate when he found a false wall hiding the plants.
Betke and another resident were arrested after a Peoria police vice squad seized several marijuana plants. Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to probation in January of this year.
Betke is one of three leaseholders on the home. The man was a student last fall when he signed the lease. He also hadn’t yet been convicted of any crime, so the lease was approved, Associate Vice President for Communication Shelley Epstein said.
The university does not have a policy of renting only to students, but most leaseholders have a relation to the university, such as students, staff or temporary faculty members.
The other two are current students, one of whom was arrested during the bust and booked on a charge of obstructing/resisting an officer.