Three Teens, Including Maplewood Boy, Treated for Alcohol Poisoning Saturday Night

Essex Fells Police said a 14-year-old boy from Whippany was found passed out in the snow, and a 15-year-old boy from Maplewood was semi-conscious outside on a night where temperatures dipped below freezing, after an Essex Fells party was broken up when a parent told police she discovered kids were drinking. 

Both boys were taken to the hospital and treated for alcohol poisoning and hypothermia, according to police.

Later that night, a 15-year-old girl from Nutley, who had attended the party, was transported to the hospital for alcohol poisoning from a West Caldwell address, police said.

Police responded to a disturbance at a house on Wootton Road at about 8:40 p.m. Saturday when Officer Kevan Murphy and Sgt. William Theilacker found several groups of teens on the street and parents arriving to pick up the children.

The homeowner told police she asked the teens to leave when she discovered alcohol at the party. Police said the teens snuck vodka through a basement entrance.

“Officers were ensuring the juveniles were being picked up or returning to the house for shelter due to the below freezing temperatures when a 9-1-1 call was received for a sick juvenile at the residence,” police officials said.

Officers from North Caldwell, West Caldwell, Roseland and Caldwell assisted in releasing the teens to their parents. The West Essex First Aid Squad transported the teens to the hospital.

The incident remains under investigation by the juvenile bureau.

Wootten Road is located near Grover Cleveland Park just off of Roseland Avenue.