100 Students Caught at Florida Principal’s House Party: Cops

an elementary school principal allegedly threw a party at her own house where over a hundred kids showed up and were drinking as if that wasn't bad enough a teacher from the school was found partying right alongside the students or allegedly partying and now both are facing some serious charges I'm going to talk with a claimed veteran journalist Ashley Banfield to get to the bottom of this wild story welcome to sidebar presented by law and crime I'm Jesse Weber everybody this is a law and crime legal alert so recent allegations against the multi-billion dollar video game industry claim that video games are engineered for addiction the claims include trying to make sense of the hold that video games seem to have over people where they just can't put the controller down every win triggers a hit a dopamine and creates a cycle of compulsion disrupts daily life harms mental health while our legal sponsors are taking on the industry that is allegedly at many times put profit over safety and they're working to potentially get compensation for all of those impacted so if you are a loved one have suffered physical or mental health issues due to video games visit vg. c/s sidebar to answer less than 10 questions and check your eligibility to file a claim all right so this is a story that sounds like it's straight out of a b-rated maybe comedy movie I don't know it's let me tell you what we have we have an elementary school principal who allegedly throws a party at her own house and over a hundred kids miners show up drinking causing chaos and I will tell you in a scary twist according to police though there was a juvenile who experiencing what has been described as quote an alcohol rated medical event now the principal who supposedly through this party is shocker facing charges but also along with one of the School's teachers who is allegedly partying with the kids so I want to start at the beginning of what is truly a bizarre story it all went down apparently on the night of January 19th by the way a Sunday no less a school night by the way anyway when police in Coco Beach Florida received reports of this wild party at the home of Roosevelt Elementary School principal 47-year-old Elizabeth HIll bran according to the arrest Avid davit that was obtained by law and crime she was initially called by police said that she was you know down the street she would handle the loud music she would shut the music down by 10 p. m.

but police and First Responders they show up later that night and what do they find quite the scene more than a hundred kids were at this house and this by the way this part's kind of strange according to the arrest affidavit many of them were oddly sporting matching t-shirts not really sure what that's about but yes there was alcohol at the party plenty of it coolers filled with booze were apparently scattered around the yard the teens were drinking openly according to the affidavit there was also marijuana there too now before I get into more of the alarming and strange details about this including discussing the charges not only for Hill bran but also that other teacher I want to bring back on to sidebar award-winning veteran journalist Ashley Banfield host of a brand new podcast called drop dead serus anchor of Banfield on news Nation Ashley so good to see you I you know I heard the podcast is doing amazing wouldn't expect anything less uh is this a story that you plan to cover on there you know what um eventually yes but I'm in the middle as I just launched the podcast of dropping episodes for the series Uncle Peter so once those are all dropped and there are six parts then we'll start getting into news of the week and this would have been a highlight for sure I I imagine that a question you will probably ask a lot on your show is what were they thinking what was she thinking I mean if these allegations are true what is a principle of a school doing here I kept thinking how boring my teachers were I never had any of this stuff and I also keep thinking about how in this very long career I've had in crime and Justice how often Jesse I've been covering teachers who are either doing stupid stuff like this or having Affairs and it's just the most bizarre repetitive story where you have this young usually very attractive teacher who thinks it's okay to have sex with her you know six seventh eth nth 10th grade students in cars in janitor Lockers in classrooms at her home at the child's home it just keeps happening and I'm like do they watch the news yeah and let's be clear right there's no allegations of that coming out you know with respect to this party but you study the criminal psyche how many times do you ask if something like this is this a case of poor judgment or is there something deeper going on with these kinds of uh criminal defendants look I'm not an educator uh I'm a I'm a communicator right but I know full well with two teenage Sons the risks and Perils of having their friends over and if those friends are drinking either knowingly or unknowingly I am liable and so I mean I just know this as a parent I'm not even a teacher I am not a principal so I'm I'm really astounded not only that she had students to her home a judgment B that there was alcohol present C that it was a repetitive party meaning they had these parties frequently and it was premeditated and planned you know all it seems as though the evidence points to the fact that the matching t-shirts is that what you think the t-shirts are about I was going to ask you about that yeah I mean I get the impression again I I would really like to read deeper into the case once they start taking interviews and after and I think this will more than likely go to trial unless she takes a deal um but yeah this was sort of like team party and it was again a regular occurrence and then there was a third grade teacher who was also part of this and P. S these are Elementary School Educators principal of an elementary school and a third grade teacher these are the two people charged so far and they're having teenagers over so what the connection is I am unclear but it is weird it is inappropriate at the least and it is Criminal potentially at the worst yeah and we're not entirely sure what the ages are right they've been referred to as minors or juveniles so we'll get maybe a whole more detail somebody was driving right so somebody was driving right let me let me let me lay out some of the facts here and we'll break it down so this is a party that took a very dark turn because officers reportedly found one kid on the front lawn who I mentioned before was so intoxicated to the point of needing medical attention according to the affidavit this detective said quote he found a male juvenile vomiting and shaking in Elizabeth HIll bradigan's front yard at 2341 hours so that's 11:41 p. m.

11:41 p. m. and it's a school night yeah it's a Sunday I don't know what's going on here but but the detective went on to say that when paramedics arrived to treat this minor H bran apparently did something very bizarre according to the affidavit once Bard County fire rescue arrived on scene Elizabeth HIll bradigan walked out of her residence stood at the top of her driveway she then walked inside and turned off all the lights in the front of her house so according to reporting from nbc5 that left these responders to use their auxiliary lighting to treat the teens so I imagine maybe headlights on the fire truck what does that tell you Ashley well so many things uh if the allegations are true the judgment is Stupify horrendous uh number two I think it warrants another charge honestly hindering Medical Care hindering first response that kind of thing maybe even interfering with an investigation because all that will be part of an investigation right number three I smell a civil suit that kids parents should be drawing up calling Morgan and Morgan whoever the heck uh is their nearest uh billboard for a personal injury L lawyer and see I'm still curious about the potential liabilities of the school district because they've got the deepest Pockets right I'm sure that Miss Broan doesn't make a whole lot of money as a principal but School District does and if there's any Communications anything on her official school account whether the school district I you're a lawyer you know this whether they have any knowledge at all of any of these events going on man that's going to be just a windfall for these parents and not just the ones with the injured kids I think the kids who were there too it's interesting you mention the parents so first of all yeah from a legal point of view a lot of times you see the lawsuits against the school district for negligent hiring you know you should have done the proper background check on these uh individuals did you um but you know you talk about the parents obviously there are parents who are involved here who are probably shocked at what they're learning but how much responsibility you mentioned this before how much responsibility is on the part of the parents to know what your kids are up to and where they're going a lot um I am a I'm militant about my kids and I have never allowed them out on school nights I'm sorry I just don't um there's nothing good that can come at 11 o'clock at night on a school night and that's hard to say when your kid is 17 18 years old but if you're 18 you're legal it's different these kids by all accounts so far were finding were not you know they were not the age majority so it's not illegal to let your kid out to to go over to their friend's house to study right right maybe that's what some of them tell their parents I don't know that's not that's not alleged in this series of facts but I still disagree wholeheartedly with any parent who allows their kid out at 11:45 at night on a school night it just doesn't make sense now does that mean that they won't Prevail in a civil suit hell to the no the allegations against Miss bran are a heck of a lot more serious than letting your kid go out of the house at 11:45 in a school night yeah it's alarming because you have this report of one child uh who got sick you have another officer by the way who conducted as you mentioned a traffic stop arrested a minor who is leaving this party for driving under the influence and then 45-year-old Carly Anderson so this is the other teacher so Carly Anderson was apparently drunk is also a third grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School when I say drunk by the way according to the affidavit she was at this party acting reportedly bizarrely because as paramedics worked on this sick kid who was in the front lawn the detective reported quote the defendant began to walk up and Bak this is again Carly Anderson the defendant began to walk up and berate bravard County fire rescue the defendant advised that she was upset because a child was being put quote in a machine and stated that she was a teacher Corporal Brown told the defendant that there were 200 kids at the resident's drinking the defendant interrupted Corporal Brown and yelled that she knew that already the defendant's speech was slow and slurred she also had mood swings between angry and calm multiple times during this brief interaction by the way naturally both Hill bran and Anderson they were arrested after police interviewed numerous Miners and parents and according to the Bard County Sheriff's Office Hill brodigan faces charges for child neglect contributing to the delinquency of a minor and hosting an open house party with alcohol Anderson also charged with child neglect and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and Ashley I want your perspective on this because when police spoke with Anderson reportedly the next day on the phone apparently she denied partying with the kids but she said look Hill bradigan she invited me out for a drink that night by the way she wouldn't agree to a sworn statement she said that her phone call with police better not be recorded so the question now is is she just you know passive unassuming guest or did she play more of a role here well it sounds to me like she fully admitted that she knew there were 200 kids at the house because she said I know that already if she was so passive she would have said I'm not sure what's going on here I just arrived and if she weren't uh hammered uh she may have made better choices than to you know utter all of those very inditing things that she did also once again you are not allowed to interfere with officials who are performing the duties of First Responders there are all sorts of different charges the codes are different in different cities and all the rest but I'm surprised that that isn't part of this um yeah I I don't think that as a third grade teacher she's shown any good judgment being drunk around any students is bad judgment no matter what time you arrived and this part's interesting because there were students who reported that Hill bradigan had also allegedly asked her son to stop the party at one point so seemingly he was there but apparently he didn't listen and that's interesting because apparently Anderson had told police that quote her friend's kid did what he did now that stopped me when I read it because Ash I'm wondering is there an argument that her son threw a party she didn't know about it she couldn't stop him I mean it doesn't sound to be quite consistent with the rest of the officer's accounts were but that kind of threw me threw a little bit of an oddball there let me just tell you about a case I covered gosh oh I think 20 years ago in Florida I think it's the Clarion call for anyone watching right now who has kids um very nice couple had a an underage minor and it was graduation party um and I think he was 16 or 17 and they said okay you can have the graduation party outside in our backyard but there's some rules no alcohol everybody leaves by 11: and I want a guest list this is what the parents did I'm even not that strict about my friends you know my kids friends coming over but they did they got the guest list they told kids that they had to give their keys that they were bringing cars and they were going to check them all as they left to make sure that everybody had adhere to the rules and they could take their keys and and and drive away Midway through the party parents and and Mom and Mom's friend are there to stay and monitor the party they're they're at the home right Midway through the party they shut down the music they get wind that maybe the kids some of the kids brought some alcohol and were going down to the Waterfront because they were on a waterfront and drinking down there had alcohol in their backpacks told the kids pour them all out watch the kids pour the alcohol out into the grass read them the riota and said that is it if there's one more instance like this you are all out of here second instance they find again some kids still kept some alcohol maybe theyd stashed it or something rather they shut the party down just like they promised and they said okay you guys are all leading part's over you broke the rules and let me check each one of you as you go by they checked each kid most kids were either walking or getting rides but there were some kids who had their own Vehicles one of the kids is 16 and he's got three of his friends in the car seems fine to the parents they give him the keys he takes off and his he's 16 years old he got a brand new Mustang from his parents and he decides to show his other friends in the car how fast this mustang can go pins it to 100 and jams right into through a stop sign in a rural road and kills a a young French student who's in the back of a car with another two students and an uncle they're all going out to a movie I think they're 12 13 14 years old everybody in that car is injured that the French exchange student is killed that 16-year-old went to prison was charged as an adult even though he wasn't 08 but he was at the limit for a minor so he's charged as an adult but they take the standard of a minor of alcohol and send him to to prison for I want to say nine years the injured parties Sue those parents and that goes to trial and the parents lost everything they lost their home they lost their business they lost everything just trying to defend themselves in the case it all came down to the reasonability of the jury did the jury believe that these parents did a reasonable effort at trying to ctail the underage drinking on their property in the end they did Prevail but not before they'd lost everything and it could have gone either way it could have been even worse but they lost everything just trying to defend themselves so the cautionary tale if you got a kid if Prin bran had a kid it is your responsibility period end of story I don't care if you've got to take a pitchfork and push people out of your house it's up to you to do it but you've highlighted the danger which I think is so important because it gets lost in the bizarre aspect of this so by the way Hill bradigan according to the a davit had initially agreed to provide a sworn statement backtracked on that but when police ended up speaking with the students uh two days after this alleged party they confirmed that there were more than a 100 students there um and that these parties happened once or twice a month so if you're thinking about you know these young people getting behind the wheel or what might end up happening look at the medical event that happened but that's not even you know the scariest part because yes there was alcohol there yes there was marijuana there allegedly there was also fights but then it was in the report there was a video recording apparently of a minor with a handgun pointing it at another person so when we think about what the danger is here and what could have happened if this was happening on a regular basis that is one of the biggest red flags and most alarming aspects of the story Ashley well listen and we don't know if that was a real uh weapon um but I think that there is a lot of potential here for further charges endangering the lives of kids I mean that's literally what you're doing if you're providing an outlet for a whole bunch of kids to get together on your premises and one of them brings out a handgun and endangers the lives of other kids that is child endangerment now can they prove that that was the gun I don't know if they're investigating I don't know if they found that kid I don't know if they went to that kid's house and discovered the gun and were able to match it to the one in the video I don't know but I mean it's a ripe area for so many things to come down on that principal's head and just knowing what I saw in that one case there was a wrongful death suit against them because of the Dead party and the injured party there were other parents that sued those parents just because that they'd had had you know underage drinking on their property unbeknownst to them even when they put out the rules so I'm just saying that the bar is so high you know uh that it is really the it's so sad to say this it's really not worth your while having a party for your kids at your home you're just liable for anything and everything yeah and it's two narratives here whether her son threw it and she just looked the other way who didn't know or she thre yeah it doesn't matter and what and what's so alarming about this is that according to reporting from the Miami Herald Hill bradigan longtime educator the outlet reported that biography teacher of the year yeah she various level right so she was awarded teacher of the year she had been working for a long time Anderson according to her LinkedIn profile had been teaching in the school system since 2006 which again it just makes you wonder how they got wrapped up in this I wanted your final response about this this is the uh the school district released a statement and it said we are extremely troubled by these accusations are fully cooperating with the Coco Beach Police Department our commitment to student safety remains our top priority and in a letter to families Bard County Superintendent DrMark Randall said I'm very troubled by the information that cbpd has shared with the district we hold our leaders to the highest standards and if these allegations are true it's a complete failure in leadership and violation of our trust the district is cooperating fully with police as they investigate this matter and will strive to provide families with full transparency I don't know what else they could say they're in a tough spot but I mean you tell me well again um you can't be responsible for your employees everywhere they are right but if there is even the slightest vestage of an iota of knowledge that the school or the school board had that these parties were going on and that they were regular and no one took any issue with that game over for the district if she used her school email account to uh communicate about these parties invite people to these parties my God order alcohol whatever it was she's done for but if they knew nothing and I know you said that background checks well this kind of stuff's not going to show up in a background check you know being a jerk and an idiot and a loser and a fool is not going to show up a background check so they may have done their due diligence on both of these um Educators but it really comes down to what their exposure may have been to her regular uh party hosting of kids and I think that's going to be a tough one it's a big investigation and and they'll have to do it I mean no police are going to go to the school and do that unless there's a complaint made if there's a civil suit production of preservation of your emails is coming pretty soon I think we need some answers here I'll tell you for legally H bran she was released on a $3,500 Bond Anderson was released after posting a $3,000 Bond no court date has been set for either yet but if they're convicted they're looking at years in prison so a lot of moving Parts here Ashley Banfield so good seeing you thank you so much for coming on and real quick tell everybody where they can check out the Pod Drp Dead serious yeah go to dropdead sirius.