Brian Holloway’s home in upstate New York was the scene of a pretty wild party over Labor Day weekend, but there was one really big problem – Holloway wasn’t there.
Holloway, a former left tackle for the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders, spends most of his post-NFL days at his residence in Florida, but he also owns a vacation home in Stephentown, New York. Holloway was in Florida when an estimated 300 teens broke into his vacation home and used it to throw a huge rager.
After breaking into the residence, the teens engaged in illicit behavior, including drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, theft and property damage. According to Holloway’s estimate, the teens caused over $20,000 in damages.
‘They all committed a crime,” said Holloway. ‘There are going to be repercussions that will be significant for some and infinitely significant for others.”
HelpMeSave300.com
Holloway said he didn’t realize how many people were inside his house until pictures and tweets started circulating on social media. You can see some of the pictures from the party, and the resulting damage, below.
In an attempt to identify the teens and teach them a lesson, Holloway created the website HelpMeSave300.com. The website, aimed at identifying the perpetrators in order to educate them about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, features multiple pictures and screenshots of individuals who claim to have been at the party.
Holloway used his site to invite the teenagers who trashed his place back to the home to help clean it up. Only four teens showed up to help.
Holloway said he tried to reach out to the teens and to their parents, but they have refused to accept responsibility for their actions. Three weeks after the incident, Holloway has decided to press charges.
”Everyone that broke the law, I’m pressing charges against,” Holloway told The Associated Press. ”The parents had a chance and students had chance to come forward, and only four did.”
Surprisingly, Holloway isn’t the only one seeking legal action. Some of the teens’ parents have threatened Holloway with a lawsuit for posting pictures and Tweets on his website.
Sean Sullivan comments
My guess is some of these kids or their parents were known to Mr. Holloway and I applaud his efforts to post these pictures online in an attempt to resolve this matter without resorting to full legal means. I handle plenty of disputes between neighbors or once-close friends in civil litigation matters. I always do my best to attempt to resolve these disputes short of filing a full on lawsuit. Litigation is expensive and unpredictable. I find that I can best serve my client and reach a reasonable resolution to their cases by settling out of court.
Mr. Holloway has simply tried to do that himself here with this unique idea of posting the pictures. Sadly, sometimes the other side is unreasonable and refuses to resolve a situation, and you are left with no choice but to sue them, or in Mr. Holloway’s case, file criminal charges.
Related sources: Fox Sports, Dailymail.co.uk, NY Daily News
Illinois Criminal & Civil Defense Blog 