Petaluma police are trying to determine where four youths obtained enough alcohol to intoxicate them all, including a 15-year-old who drank so much he had to be hospitalized with alcohol poisoning.
Several neighbors in the 700 block of B Street called police to report a group of teens were drunk in the street at about 5 p.m. on Sept. 16, Lt. Tim Lyons said.
One caller said one of the youths was being carried into a home by the others.
Lyons said officers determined the other youths were already drunk and the 15-year-old was trying to "catch up" by drinking a large quantity of rum.
Inside the home, officers found the youth unconscious and being tended to by his friends.
An ambulance was called and the juvenile was taken to Petaluma Valley Hospital, where his blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.4 percent, Lyons said. That's five times the legal limit for an adult driver to be considered impaired.
The youth was placed on a respirator and transferred to intensive care, Lyons said. Police said if he hadn't received immediate medical attention he may have died.
The three other boys were arrested on misdemeanor suspicion of public intoxication and released to their parents.
The other youth has been released from the hospital, Lyons said.
The incident shares some similarities to a deadly case in Santa Rosa in July. Takeimi Rao, 14, died after drinking vodka mixed with soda at a July 9 sleepover at her family's home.
A second round of toxicology tests has been ordered to determine Rao's cause of death. Authorities believe she may have choked on her own vomit after falling asleep after drinking.
Lyons said parents who knew or should have known of underage drinking at their residences can be cited under the city's "social host" ordinance. But it appears the youths had already obtained the rum before arriving at the B Street house.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: