Adult, teen face penalties from beer incident

WASILLA - A 29-year-old Valley man is facing a charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor following an investigation into a 14-year-old boy consuming four beers in 30 minutes while attending an event at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center.

Titus Gumley is scheduled for a Feb. 7 arraignment at Palmer District Court, and the teen involved also faces a charge of minor consuming alcohol.

The Jan. 21 incident happened after the teen, who was at the Menard attending an adult hockey league game with his mother, snuck into another event that was for persons age 21 and older where alcohol was served. After the teen's mother, Heather Vest, discovered her son had been served alcohol, she addressed Wasilla City Council.

"I take my children there because it's a safe place," she said at a It's always been that way," Vest said at a Jan. 23 council meeting. "I had no idea this dance was happening, otherwise I would not have taken ... children there."

While Vest was keeping score for the hockey league, her son snuck into a benefit concert sponsored by Country Legends radio and Alaska's Healing Hearts, Wasilla Police Chief Gene Belden said. While at the concert, the teen was among a group of people at Gumley's table.

"What has come out, evidently, is (Gumley) was buying drinks for the table, and he'd just buy a bunch of drinks, set them on the table and everybody grabbed a glass," he said.

Staff at the Menard and with events try to keep out underage and people who show up already intoxicated, Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright said. That this particular teen slipped through that net is unfortunate, and the city is taking steps to beef up its policing of events, he said.

"Kids try to sneak in all the time," he said. "What we're doing is revisiting the rules for the facility and security measures."

That increased security was evident this past Saturday when the Menard hosted an Alaska Fighting Championships event, Rupright said. There were an extra five police personnel assigned to the Menard.

"We nabbed people coming through the door," he said. Some were underage and other were already intoxicated and not allowed in. "One juvenile was ticketed and held and turned over to her parents."

Another measure the city is taking is with its scheduling, he said. "I do not want the facility booked (for an adult-only event) with some kiddie event going on at the hockey arena or vise versa."

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.