MOUNT CARMEL - Borough police cited 18 teenagers and are filing charges against several adults following an underage drinking party on West Second Street Friday night.
Police were called at approximately 10 p.m. to the home of Laura Sorrentino, 36, of 216 W. Second St., Mount Carmel, on a tip that an underage drinking party was going on inside the home. According to Mount Carmel Borough Police Chief Brian Shurock, Sorrentino was uncooperative with Patrolman David Donkochik when he arrived at the home to investigate.
As a result, Donkochik believed that the information on the party was credible and applied for a search warrant, signed by Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III, of Shamokin. Within a few hours, the warrant was served on the home, where police seized more than 200 containers of alcohol, illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia.
Among those cited for underage drinking were Nico Tovey, 19, of Shamokin; Zachery Whitmer, 19, of Shamokin; Robert Kaminski, 19, of Mount Carmel; Courtney Briel, 18, of Wilburton; Mitchell Shields, 18, of Mount Carmel; Keith Kisela, 20, of Mount Carmel; a 15-year-old female from Wilburton,
a 15-year-old female from Mount Carmel, two 16-year-old males for Coal Township, two 17-year-old males from Mount Carmel, a 16-year-old female from Girardville, a 17-year-old male from Shamokin, a 16-year-old male from Shamokin, a 16-year-old male from Locust Gap, a 16-year-old male from Mount Carmel and a 13-year-old male from Shamokin.
Shurock said criminal charges of corruption of minors and reckless endangerment are pending against Sorrentino because a three-year-old child in Sorrentino's care was in the home at the time of the party.
Three other adults - a 19-year-old male from Mount Carmel, a 19-year-old female from Mount Carmel and a 25-year-old male from Coal Township - may also face charges of resisting arrest and narcotics offenses. Their names have not been released by police, Shurock said, because the incident is still under investigation.
Assisting Donkochik in the investigation were Mount Carmel Borough officers Sgt. Todd Owens and patrolmen William Adamski, Matt Dillman and Shane Reamer and officers from Mount Carmel Township, Kulpmont and Ralpho Township police departments, Northumberland County Juvenile Probation and Northumberland County Children and Youth Services.