Teen who ripped ear off jumping from roof is suing classmate's parents after alcohol fuelled party
We've all had one too many J20s at a house party growing up but hopefully we've never done anything as silly as jumping from a roof.
While I've had mates who've walked straight into ponds, smashed through a see-through door and end up in an ambulance twice from drinking too much booze, thankfully they've never gone as far as ripping off an ear.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened with a teenager across the pond in Arizona, who decided to launch himself off the roof with the aim of landing in a swimming pool, only to misjudge things and knock himself unconscious, losing part of his ear in the process.
Blake Barnes was one of hundreds of students at an 'out of control' house party which included a huge amount of underage drinking, since the legal age over in the US is obviously 21.
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However, students were advised to bring their own booze to the shindig and now Barnes is suing his parent's classmates, Brandon and Megan Spencer, for allowing the party to occur.
“My guy actually hit his head on the pool deck and sustained a concussion, tore his ear off. Fire and EMT personnel responded. He was unconscious, floating lifeless in the pool,” Barnes’ lawyer, Brian Foster, told AZFamily.
“100 or 150 people who attended this raging senior ditch-day party,” Foster told the outlet. “And in the written notification, he told everybody to bring your own alcohol.”
Although some young people are moving away from alcohol entirely, this clearly wasn't the case over in Arizona, where Barnes had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.114 after he was rushed to hospital.
Despite Barnes having a BAC that is considered high enough for impaired judgement, he clearly did not want to accept responsibility for his illegal and very foolish actions, as he's now blaming the Spencers for allowing their son to host such a alcohol-fuelled party.
“Look, it’s certainly not a great fact that my client consumed alcohol and had a blood alcohol content. But the fact of the matter is the alcohol was provided at the host party at the home where he attended, and the owners of the home knew or should have known that their son was having this rager,” Foster concluded.
The teenager is seeking current and future medical expenses related to the incident in addition to damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress and more, in the lawsuit which was officially filed on 22 May after the incident occurred in mid April.
Safe to say that whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, that Barnes won't be invited to any future bashes at the Spencer's house, if they ever allow their kids to have a party again that is.
James Moorhouse