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Deputies arrest party promoter after finding underage drinking at Stanwood event

STANWOOD, Wash. — Snohomish County deputies arrested four adults and one minor at a party in Stanwood on Friday night, after a caller reported her 13-year-old niece was at the location drinking alcohol with other minors.

According to a probable cause document, one of the deputies who responded said one person was unconscious and taken to the hospital. As deputies tried to reach the unconscious person, certain people allegedly tried to block deputies, "screaming profanities in an attempt to get the party goers ramped up," the documents said.

One of the people arrested was Jahmil Watkins, the administrator of a Facebook group called Elite Projects, which has now been removed from the social media site. The deputy making the report said he is aware of the page and the parties promoted by Watkins. He said Watkins had posted about hosting the party with a $5 cover charge and that they were attempting to get up to 2,000 people to attend.

The deputy said he had been tracking the Elite Projects Facebook page for the past year and had observed some of these parties result in 911 calls the next day from homeowners reporting burglaries that took place while they were away.

He called the group “an extreme nuisance to our citizens in Snohomish County, resulting in minors consuming alcohol, property being stolen or damaged and multiple fights that have included the discharge of firearms.”

Deputies who responded to the party saw "easily over 100 people who appeared to be adults and minors," according to the probable cause document.

The deputy said one person, who was later identified as Cole D. Mason, ran up to the deputy from behind and attempted to grab him.

“Mason appeared extremely intoxicated, slurring his words,” the deputy stated in the document. "He had a strong odor of intoxicants coming from his person and he continued to say that he was drunk because he was celebrating his birthday.”

Natasha Chen is going through probable cause documents and putting together the story for KIRO 7 at 11.