Cop Busts Students for House Party, Makes Stunning Find

Miami University students who hosted gathering had tested positive for COVID-19
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 12, 2020 9:00 AM CDT

It's bad enough a group of college students at Ohio's Miami University hosted a house party over Labor Day weekend, despite the fact that their school has had upward of 1,100 students test positive for COVID-19 since the middle of last month. But what a local cop discovered when he arrived to break up the gathering elicited head-smacking from him and everyone else who's since heard about it. CBS News and the New York Post report that an officer from the Oxford Police Department dropped by the off-campus residence on Sept. 5 to break up the party, where several young men milled about on the front porch, drinking and listening to music, not a mask in sight. With one of the students estimating that about 20 people were at the house, the officer cited the city's current ban on gatherings of more than 10 people. The cop's bodycam footage shows what happened next.

He asks for the ID of one of the students, then goes back to his car to run it. What he found out shocked him. "Can you come here?" he asks the student, who strolls over to the squad car. "There's an input on the computer that you tested positive for COVID?" The student confirms that fact, saying his test came back about a week ago, and when the officer asks if the student is supposed to be quarantining, the student answers, "Yeah, that's why I'm at my house." The student then tells the officers all of his housemates, as well as some party attendees, also had the virus. "[This is] what we're trying to prevent," the incredulous officer says of the gathering. "We want to keep this town open." It's not clear if there were people without COVID-19 at the party. Five men in the house received $500 fines, as did one guest. Without commenting on this specific case, the college told CBS that "we take these matters most seriously, and students can face suspension or dismissal for these types of violations." (More college students stories.)

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