Police cite club officer for serving to minor

The Borough Police issued two summonses to Ivy Club officers early Friday morning in connection with an underage drinking incident.

Borough Police charged club president Robert Neely '03 with serving alcoholic beverages to a minor and house manager Hugh Lippincott '03 with obstructing the administration of the law. However, no arrests were made.

Police said charges against individual club officers are unusual, as it is often difficult to gather enough evidence to prove underage serving violations.

Patrol officers found a 20-year-old woman passed out on the sidewalk in front of the club at 12:19 a.m., said Borough Police Capt. Anthony Federico. The woman is a sophomore member of Ivy.

During an interview, she told police she had been drinking at Ivy, which led the officers to issue the summonses.

Lippincott said the student was never unconscious or left alone.

"They made it look like we were not concerned for her, and that we were somewhat negligent, which I don't think was the case," he said.

According to the police report, Lippincott and other members carried the woman outside the club to the sidewalk.

Lippincott said he stayed with her on the sidewalk, and her friend accompanied her in the ambulance to Princeton Medical Center, where she was treated and released.

Public Safety was already on the scene when the police, who have jurisdiction over Prospect Avenue, arrived.

In filing the charges, the police said they were not trying to send a message to the clubs — the rarity of formal charges is only a result of the rarity of solid evidence, Federico said.

"If [we] had evidence more often," more charges would be filed, he said. "Oftentimes what happens is we go to interview people, and they don't give us the right information, or they're too intoxicated to talk."