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Police trying to bust up an underage drinking party say they got more than they bargained for when they ran into an intoxicated mom, rowdy teens and a barricaded condo door.
Mixed among the scattered beer and liquor bottles across the floor, police said they found a girl, 16, choking on her vomit in a restroom. She was treated at St. Mary's Hospital.
It all happened as the 7-year-old son of the listed condo owner, Kimberly Clark Kiernan, 39, of Palm Beach Shores, was locked in a room during a Monday night party with 26 minors, according to a Palm Beach Shores Police Department arrest report.
Finding the mom so intoxicated that she urinated on herself, police called the Department of Children & Families Emergency Hotline after kicking in a door to free the child, according to the report.
Kiernan could not be reached for comment despite a phone call on Friday. But in an interview with news partner WPEC-Ch.12, she denied the charges and answered "I don't drink" when asked if police had it wrong.
She adds that she plans to fight the charges, according to CBS 12.
Palm Beach Shores Police Lt. Steve Langevin said he was surprised at Kiernan's behavior
"When you have alcohol and kids, nothing good comes from it," he said. "They're looking for adults to make decisions and it's unfortunate that a woman would bring that many kids to her home. The adults are supposed to take care of the kids."
At 10:43 p.m. Monday, neighbors at the building in the 100 block of Lake Drive reported a possible fight with a large group outside.
Two officers arrived to find a neighbor who told them a child lives in the apartment hosting the party. An officer looked up to see Kiernan on a balcony with several young men throwing bottles into a cardboard box. After asking the group to stop and come down, the group headed inside and closed the doors and blinds, according to the report.
Two officers headed up to the apartment with the building manager, who told them he had problems with Kiernan throwing parties and disturbing other residents.
An officer knocked on Kiernan's door and told the partiers the officer needed to check on the child inside. That's when an officer said the people inside the apartment told the police that they were breaking the law, were being taped and that they needed to leave.
After talking through the door for about 20 minutes, Kiernan walked out, according to the report.
Officers said Kiernan got angry when they asked about the child. Police said "she was immediately jerked backward when unknown male individuals hiding behind the door pulled her into the hallway and slammed the door shut."
Police said someone inside the door barricaded the door so forcefully that it cracked and bowed outward.
As one of the officers headed downstairs to call for backup, the other officer waited near the door where he said people inside began making threats and said they were going to "stand their ground against the police with force if police attempted to enter," an officer wrote in the report.
When two Riviera Beach police sergeants, a canine officer, and five patrol officers arrived, the police headed back to the apartment only to see a list of demands for police slide under the door.
It's unclear what the demands were.
After more talking, the officers managed to yank open the door when several teens came sprinting out. Police rounded up 26 minors mostly between 14 and 17, according to the report. Officers found Kiernan hiding under a pile of clothes.
Before sending them home to their parents, police said at least five of the teens told them they played the same games with Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies near Jupiter at another party. The minors were "blatantly disrespectful" after being told how dangerous these games are, according to the report.
Kiernan was booked into Palm Beach County Jail on Tuesday and released on $8,000 bail Wednesday. She faces charges of making a false report, resisting an officer, cruelty toward a child and 26 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
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