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NORTH COUNTY
DEPUTIES TARGET ‘PARTY CREWS’
VACANT HOMES TRASHED BY THRONGS OF REVELERS
By Kristina Davis UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 24, 2009
It only took a weekend for the $1 million home up for sale in Fallbrook to go from a pristine showcase to a dump.
Beer cans, tequila bottles and drug paraphernalia covered the ground, graffiti marred the walls, and sticky goop coated the floors.
“They trashed the place,” said Realtor Tony Ward, who was hired to sell the Tecalote Drive home before the bank forecloses on it.
The makeover, which totaled about $8,000 in damage, was the work of a “party crew” that broke into the home over the Fourth of July weekend and charged hundreds of young people $2 to $5 apiece to party there two nights in a row.
Similar illegal parties have popped up around North County this summer as people try to make a profit and take advantage of homes for sale or abandoned due to foreclosures.
Four young people have been arrested so far.
“This is a new phenomenon for us,” said Fallbrook sheriff's Detective Jeff Lauhon, who launched an investigation after the July Fourth break-in. “It's something we've never seen before.”
The investigation has uncovered at least five party crews in North County, with names such as “Takin Over Krew” and “Til You Drop.”
The organizers look for large, out-of-the-way houses that are vacant and provide plenty of space for parking.
They scour real estate ads for potential locations and case the homes. Some have even posed as potential buyers and done walk-throughs with real estate agents, Lauhon said.
In some cases, one of the crew members will wander off into a back room and unlock a window for easy access later, said Ward, a Realtor with Jacques Co. in Fallbrook.
The underground parties are usually advertised on social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, but the location is kept secret until about an hour before party time. People who want to go can call an information line or receive a text message with the spot — similar to how people found out about raves in abandoned warehouses in the '90s.
“Our concern is getting the story out to all Realtors,” Ward said. “We need to do what we can to protect vacant homes.” That includes checking that all windows and doors are locked after each showing and setting alarm systems if available.
In most cases, the homeowners' insurance companies have had to shoulder the costs to repair the homes. In cases where arrests were made, restitution may be possible.
The most recent arrests were Aug. 14, when sheriff's deputies broke up a party in a vacant home on Country Club Drive in unincorporated Escondido.
Jovan Araujo, 21, nicknamed “Dream,” was identified as one of the organizers responsible for at least two of the parties, along with a 17-year-old male. Araujo has been charged with burglary, vandalism and trespassing. He was also cited for hosting a party in the same area weeks earlier.
Authorities have grown increasingly concerned about the parties, not only because of the damage caused to properties, but because of the potential danger it poses to young attendees. Underage drinking and drugs are commonplace, and some events hosted by party crews have been associated with gangs, law enforcement sources said.
“It's not a safe atmosphere,” said San Marcos sheriff's Sgt. Glenn Giannantonio. “You've got a nice, semirural community and now 200 drunk teenagers driving around.”
Neighbor Dominick Grossi said the “raging drunkfest” on Tecalote Drive was complete with strobe lights and a disc jockey. “Whenever the door opened, it was like someone opened the door of a huge club, it was so loud,” said Grossi, who owns an Italian deli in Fallbrook. He and his wife helped pick up hundreds of red plastic cups and liquor bottles littering the neighborhood the next morning, he said.
Building a case against the people responsible for throwing the parties has also been challenging. In some cases, the deputies who bust the parties can't find the leaders or don't realize right away that the home is a foreclosure.
No arrests were made after deputies broke up the July Fourth party on Tecalote because everyone ran away, but another party on Daisy Lane in Fallbrook two weeks later ended with two arrests.
The home, owned by a couple who live out of state for part of the year, was up for sale, but many of their belongings were inside. Deputies were able to detain and question several of the revelers.
A 14-year-old girl and Jose Espinosa, 23, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft when the homeowners' television, vacuum cleaner and bath towels were found in a car. Graffiti on the walls tied the party to the previous ones, authorities said.
Similar parties have been reported in unincorporated Escondido, San Marcos and Valley Center. One in Vista was thwarted when a neighbor called to report two suspicious people walking around the foreclosed home on York Drive, Lauhon said.
The unwanted attention from law enforcement prompted the party crew leaders to hold a summit in Oceanside earlier this month, but the meeting was interrupted by sheriff's investigators. “I think we've got a pretty good handle on the situation at this point,” Lauhon said.
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