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College students charged after 17-year-old girl hurt after drinking party

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 3, 2010 02:52 PM

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

Four Merrimack College students have been charged with providing alcohol to a minor during an underage drinking party that left a high school student with a serious head injury.

The 17-year-old girl from southeastern Massachusetts, who is in critical but stable condition at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, fell down some stairs early Sunday morning at the party, according to a statement issued by North Andover police and Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office.

North Andover police responded to emergency calls requesting medical assistance at around 12:20 a.m. and found the girl unresponsive and “in a pool of blood on the walkway” at the foot of the front exterior stairs, police said. She was transported to Lawrence General Hospital and later transferred.

The four Merrimack College students were identified by authorities as: Dylan Register, 20, of Wayland; Casey Koperniak, 19, of North Adams; Alexander Sharp, 20, of Raynham; and Jason Fischer, 20, of Freeland, Md.

The students were also charged with being minors in possession of alcohol and with keeping a noisy and disorderly house.

They allegedly hosted the party at their off-campus apartment on Turnpike Street in North Andover, police said.

Register also was charged with three counts of possessing a false or stolen Registry of Motor Vehicle documents after police allegedly found three fake IDs in his wallet.

The four are expected to be arraigned in Lawrence District Court on Tuesday.

Last month, North Andover police arrested adults who had allegedly allowed teenagers to drink in their homes.