PALM CITY, Fla. — Alcohol, drugs, and stripper poles. Not found inside a nightclub but inside a Martin County home rented by a Palm Beach County high school student.
A large three-story home sits by itself on a rural Palm City road.
But the quiet neighborhood might have been shattered recently based on what deputies found inside.
“The potential for disaster was huge," said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder Tuesday.
Acting on a tip from School Resource Officers at West Boca High School, the rented house was the destination for hundreds of kids for a post-prom party last month.
“They had three buses, at least 300 kids, heading to Martin County for an alcohol-laced drug fest," said Sheriff Snyder.
The homeowner lives out of the country, so deputies reached out to the property manager who took pictures showing dozens of bottles of alcohol, along with rolled marijuana blunts.
“I mean to tell you the refrigerator was packed with every kind of alcohol, every kind of mix. It would have contended with any bar here in Martin County," said Sheriff Snyder.
Deputies tracked down the party planner, and the buses never left Palm Beach County.
Tere (Terri) Martin lives behind the rental home. She was stunned to hear what was planned.
“Well my mouth opened because I thought you must be talking about a different place," said Martin.
Martin says she has met the couple that owns the house, and had something been happening there, she would have known.
“Before we go to bed, we go back to the barn and check… and not just check the horses, we check the whole area," said Martin.
No criminal charges were filed against the party planner.
“There are no charges coming because we never put the drugs and alcohol with the party planner. We stopped it before it happened," said the Sheriff.
The sheriff says with graduation week here, young people need to remember they have the rest of their lives to look forward to.
“It’s the beginning of their future. Don’t wreck it.”
A spokesman with Airbnb says they did have a listing for the Palm City property, but no cancellations were recorded for the month of April. He added AirBnB renters must be at least 18 and as part of their terms of service, a homeowner can request the renter to upload an ID as proof.
