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Alex Cabrero Reporting"Well, it's just a party, but if you take a look at the narcotics recovered afterwards, that's a big deal."
Charges will soon be filed after police break up a huge rave party. The all-night gathering was this past weekend in Nevada, about 10 miles North of Wendover. Police didn't know about it until a car full of teens along I-80 was stopped, and they found a map leading to the party site.
It is something a lot of people in Elko County are talking about. It's the first rave party in the county anybody can remember. Now ravers will say, "What's the big deal?" They're just dancing, partying, and having fun.
But police say it crosses the line when illegal drugs are involved, there's no permit for the large gathering, and there were no sanitation facilities for the estimated 3000 people who went to the party.
Elko County sheriff's deputies were outnumbered nearly 300 to one.
Neil Harris, Sheriff, Elko County: "When you get 3000 people in here, and they're gonna be mad because we're gonna be coming in here and breaking up their illegal party, I have a safety concern for the officers responding."
It went well, though. Today, most of the garbage has been cleaned up, but there are still piles of stuff, like bottles, bags of human waste, and even a broken down car.
Elko County sheriff Neil Harris says it's not his kind of party, but he understands the draw.
Neil Harris: "It's the middle of nowhere! There's no law enforcement, nobody is messing with them. They can come out and do what they want."
But that's how the trouble starts.
Neil Harris: "They found cocaine, marijuana, they found all kinds of empty bottles. We don't know what was in those narcotic bottles."
At one point, 911 received a phone call form someone saying a 15-year old girl overdosed on ecstasy. When paramedics arrived, they found the girl and her husband, but they refused medical treatment and left fast.
Lt. Marvin Morton, Elko Co. Sheriff's Office: "As soon as we stopped in here, people started to exit the area."
Still, the event promoter didn't have a permit and no restrooms, which explains the bags in the weeds. It's on BLM land and someone has to clean it up.
Jeff Miller, Bureau of Land Management: "That's what we're still working on. It may be us, and in this case, we'll bill the person responsible for it."
Deputies believe that person who promoted the rave is Brandon Barnett from Salt Lake City. They're trying to find him and possibly charge him with failure to obtain a permit. They don't mind a party was held on the land, they just wanted it to be done the right way.
