A teen party last week at a Murray Hills house involving beer and marijuana was at the home of County Commissioner Warren Mackey - while he was out of town.
Commissioner Mackey said he is disappointed in his grandson for staging the party, where two of his friends were arrested.
He said, "It was dumb to invite 16 teenagers over. You are just asking for trouble. And it was dumb to loan my car keys to one of his friends."
The commissioner said the grandson, who lives with him, "will think twice next time. We have addressed this situation with him and we are continuing to address it."
He said he did not find out about the incident until a day after he and his wife returned from a two-day trip to Memphis.
William Cody Baskette, 18, of 8600 Autumn Oak Lane, Harrison, and Nathaniel Jackson, 18, of 6326 Frances Dr., were charged with theft, resisting arrest, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and drinking under age.
A city police officer said he was working security off duty at the Bi-Lo on Highway 58 when he saw a teen running with two cases of Budlight Lime. He said he yelled for him to stop, but he got into a white Ford Explorer. The SUV belonged to Commissioner Mackey.
The officer got the tag number, which was traced to the Mackey home at 4801 Murray Hills Dr. Officers found the white SUV parked outside that residence.
Police said there were nine juveniles and four adults (all under age 21) inside the house. Two juvenile females tried to escape out a side door, but they were caught by police. Officers said teens "were hiding throughout the house."
Eventually, all were rounded up and placed on the front porch of the residence. Their parents were called to the scene.
Police said Baskette had purchased a small bag of marijuana for a juvenile. The juvenile said he went with Baskette to get the marijuana and furnished the money.
Several juveniles said they drank some of the beer that was allegedly stolen from Bi-Lo. Out of the 36 beers stolen, only five full beers were left.
Police said Baskette was the driver of the SUV and Jackson the passenger who went into the store.