Eight Northwestern students were cited with possession of fake identification cards used for the purpose of purchasing alcohol for underage drinking Nov. 20 at The Keg of Evanston, police said.
Some of the students said that although they accept responsibility, the ID search seemed arbitrary.
One of the students ticketed, 19-year-old Weinberg freshman Marianne Herr, said she will pay the $75 fine because she was guilty.
“Yes, I was caught with fake identification,” Herr said. “But more than 50 percent of the Northwestern population uses fake identification at the Keg on a weekly basis — being persecuted and fined is ridiculous.”
Meagan Kudchadkar, an 18-year-old Weinberg freshman, said she felt like the fine was not a big deal.
“I just wanted to have a good time,” she said. “But these things happen sometimes and I accept the responsibility. At least I’m not going to jail.”
The Evanston Police Department worked with the owner of The Keg, 810 Grove St., to check IDs, EPD Cmdr. Michael Perry said. Representatives from the Keg declined to comment.
Between 10 p.m. and midnight the doorman at The Keg alerted two EPD detectives to anyone who was trying to enter the bar with false ID, Perry said. The detectives then checked the ID card and cited the person with a compliance ticket. The individuals who received tickets must either pay a $75 fine or appear at the Evanston Civic Center for a hearing by Dec. 19.
Herr, Kudchadkar, and fellow NU students Asha Agrawal, Todd Hansen, Julia Lissner, Elizabeth Moody, Andrew Schober and Marissa Teicher were charged with breaking a city ordinance. Agrawal, Lissner, Moody, Schober and Teicher declined to comment. Hansen could not be reached.
Perry said it was up to the individual officer to choose between charging the students with breaking a city ordinance or a state law. The officers chose to charge them with a breaking the city ordinance because if they had enforced the state law, they would have had to arrest the students, thereby hindering their sting operation, Perry said.
He said EPD chose to perform ID checks at The Keg because the department has received complaints of underage drinking and heard word of doormen confiscating several fake IDs.
Perry said EPD is planning to perform more identification checks at other Evanston restaurants and bars.
EPD also charged a Wilmette man Friday night with using a fake ID after he tried to purchase alcohol from Dominick’s Finer Foods, 2748 Green Bay Road, Perry said.
Jared A. Ronalds, 19, of the 1100 block of Forest Avenue, was arrested at about 9:30 p.m. after he tried to buy five cases of beer worth $64.95, Perry said. The cashier told him his ID looked fake and the suspect became nervous, left the beer on the counter and left the store, Perry said.
The suspect used a real ID card that had been altered, Perry said. The name and birthday of someone over the age of 21 was taped onto the suspect’s real ID card, Perry said. The suspect told police he had not altered the card himself, but instead paid someone $50 to change it.
Ronalds is scheduled to appear Jan. 4 at Circuit Court in Skokie.
The Daily’s Elizabeth Leis contributed to this report.
