Two Virginia parents have been arrested after a party for their twin sons drew between 100 and 300 teenagers to their McLean home, with police reporting alcohol, fireworks and young people fleeing into the streets.
Lisa Vaughan, 45, and Aubrey Vaughan, 55, were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and maintaining a common nuisance following the gathering on November 6.
Fairfax County Police attended the couple’s property after receiving several complaints from neighbours at about 9pm. Officers arriving at the $3 million home reported seeing teenagers stumbling around the garden as fireworks could be heard.
Bodycam footage showed Lisa Vaughan telling an officer: “We haven’t had any alcohol. We’ve been making sure.”
When the officer challenged her, she replied: “No, I’m not joking. We’ve been making sure there’s no backpacks, no alcohol.”
The officer responded: “It reeks like liquor, we got drunk kids walking everywhere.”
A large explosion was then heard from the rear of the house, followed by teenagers shouting. Police moved towards the back of the property as groups of young people emerged from the side of the home, with smoke visible in the footage.
Officers ordered the teenagers to “go home” as another explosion was heard. The group was later seen running through the dark streets.
Aubrey Vaughan said the event was intended for eighth-grade pupils, but older high-school students arrived and the gathering became unmanageable. He said the invitation stated that backpacks and alcohol were prohibited, and that anyone bringing either would be asked to leave.
He later discovered that the party had been advertised on Snapchat, leading to uninvited guests attending. The couple’s lawyer, Alaric Piette, said they had been “quickly overwhelmed with older, high-school aged kids crashing their middle-schooler’s party”.
The parents said they were embarrassed by what happened and made their twin sons visit neighbours to apologise. Aubrey Vaughan also said he was grateful that police arrived to clear the property, describing it as the first party the family had hosted.
The couple were surprised when police called the following morning and asked them to surrender, Mr Piette said. “They are upset and embarrassed by these charges but understood that the police were doing their job,” he said.
Mr Piette added that the couple were “devastated” by the damage to their reputations and criticised the police media statement for not including a disclaimer that they were innocent until proven guilty.
Lisa and Aubrey Vaughan were released on a $1,000 bond each.
