Authorities busted a huge party at a sprawling 10-acre Long Island property earlier this week -- and cops say they're still trying to figure out who hosted the bash in the first place.
Suffolk County police say they responded to the five-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot home on Hawkins Lake in Brookhaven around 12:30 a.m. Monday after getting multiple 911 calls reporting a large party. They found up to 400 people present.
The crowd started to disperse when police arrived, officials said, and no summonses were issued. The investigation into who organized the shindig (and possible super-spreader event) is ongoing.
According to News 12, the property owner was one of the people who called 911 to report the party. The owner had rented it to a person believed to be from New Jersey via Airbnb, the website reported. That individual has yet to be identified, but the homeowner showed the police proof that he had made the gathering limit clear to the person renting the property.
Police say they plan to impose heavy civil fines on the host and press charges when they locate him, News 12 reported. No arrests have been made.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said people were partying like it was 2019, ignoring the nationwide surge in COVID cases that is only expected to worsen over the next couple of weeks.
"When I see something like this, it just outrages me. Think about the sacrifices people have made ... to see someone acting so recklessly," Bellone said. "We aren't going to let that happen here."
Local
On Long Island, the number of hospitalizations continues to climb, jumping 212 percent in just three weeks. Officials have said social gatherings, especially those inside homes, are at least partly to blame.
Indoor gatherings of more than 10 people were recently banned in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut amid the latest coronavirus surge.
