Warrant issued in teen party

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The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant Thursday for the arrest of a Genoa woman who police say hosted a New Year’s Eve underage drinking party.

Robin Grabowski, 39, who police say is the mother of a teen who attended the party, faces six charges. Five are Class A misdemeanors of unlawful delivery of alcohol to minors, and one is a Class 4 felony of unlawful delivery of alcohol to a minor that indirectly resulted in his alcohol poisoning and diabetic coma, according to court records.

A Class 4 felony is punishable by 1-3 years in prison, according to state statutes. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by less than a year in prison.

Bond was set at $10,000, but Grabowski had not been arrested as of 6 p.m. Thursday. DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said he anticipated that the arrest would be made today.

Each charge against Grabowski lists one minor for whom she is accused of providing alcohol. Five of those minors are Genoa-Kingston High School student athletes, and one is not, according to team rosters.

None of the students faces criminal charges.

“The key is to remember that we were not on the scene of the incident at the time,” Scott said regarding the minors not being charged. “This was all done through follow-up investigation.”

But law enforcement officials have released to the district a list of students they believe were at the party, Genoa-Kingston Schools Superintendent Scott Wakeley said.

Those students on the list who participate in extracurricular activities are subject to discipline for violating the co-curricular handbook, Wakeley said.

“There’s a fine line that we walk,” he said Thursday. “Some people think we should have nothing to do with this because it didn’t happen at school. But participating in extracurricular activities is a privilege, not a right, unlike going to school.”

The district’s athletic code of conduct states that athletes caught for the first time using tobacco, alcohol or drugs will be suspended from competing in one-fourth of the number of athletic contests during the season.

If a student is an athlete in a sport that has already had its season, or in one that takes place in the spring, he or she would be penalized during the next season, Wakeley said.

“The only time they would be completely discipline-free is if they were a senior, not involved in a spring sport or winter sport, and then they graduate and leave,” he said. “Otherwise, this will follow them.”

Student athletes have not yet been disciplined because district administrators are waiting until the criminal investigation is complete, Wakeley said, adding that he expects it to wrap up next week.

“They don’t want us interviewing kids and getting answers that may conflict with their investigation,” Wakeley said. “I think it’s bigger than just a kids’ party because there is the possibility of adults being involved. It’s more than just kids being kids. There are some other things here that we don’t know.”

The sheriff’s office is still investigating the case, but police first learned about the underage drinking party about 10 a.m. on Jan. 1, when Genoa police received a call about a 17-year-old boy who was breathing but was not responsive.

Genoa police Chief Patrick Solar said the boy’s friends took him home and told the police about the party. It was attended by fewer than a dozen G-K High School students, Sheriff Scott has said, and was thrown in the outskirts of Genoa in the 15000 block of Route 72.

The boy, who was hospitalized for excessive consumption of alcohol and a related diabetic coma, was released Monday from OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Scott said.