'Appalling' Underage Drinking Parties Targeted by Grieving Parents

ROCKVILLE, MD – The parents of a teenager killed after an underage drinking party, and the parents of a Montgomery County Police officer killed by a suspected drunk driver, turned grief into action this week to push for stronger drunk-driving laws.

Bills introduced in Annapolis would require ignition interlocks for more convicted drunk drivers, and toughen the penalties for the hosts of underage drinking parties.

House Bill 409, named Alex and Calvin’s Law, would a penalty of one-year maximum in jail and double the fine from $2,500 to $5,000 for a first offense for providing alcohol to underage drinkers.

The proposals are spurred by two Montgomery County tragedies: the death of Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta in December after he was hit by a car driven by a suspected repeat drunk driver, and the deaths of two Wootton High School graduates in June 2015 after attending an underage drinking party.

Kenneth Jay Saltzman of Potomac pleaded guilty in December to furnishing alcohol to a minor. He hosted the underage drinking party June 25, which was attended by Samuel Ellis, the former star quarterback at Thomas S. Wootton High School.

Ellis, of North Potomac, was the driver in a crash that killed classmates Alexander Murk, 18, of Potomac and Calvin Jia-Xing Li, 18, of Rockville.

‘Appalling’ Lack of Penalty

Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger denounced the lax punishment – a $2,500 fine for the death of a teenager after a party – which is the maximum penalty under state law.

“This is not justice. These misguided parents will continue to break the law, kids will continue to be injured and killed, until there are real consequences for someone who hosts an underage drinking party,” Manger said at a press conference. “The state needs to show that it cares more about keeping kids safe than it does about allowing parents to throw an underage drinking party for their kids.”

Members of the Senate committee unanimously approved the bill Wednesday, drawing cheers from the crowd.

David Murk and Paul Li testified about the deaths of their sons following the teen party, and told legislators that parents continue to host underage parties.

“We’re not seeing change in the community . . . as we try to make sense of his death,” Murk said, reports The Washington Post.

“It was really appalling after the accident and the individual who was hosting the party that night paid a $5,000 fine,” Murk told lawmakers, according to FOX DC. “That was very hard for my wife and I to swallow when he paid a fine in District Court as if he was paying a parking ticket.”

Noah’s Law Supporters

Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, of Olney, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Police say his car reportedly hit Leotta, who was working at a holiday drunk driving task force.

Reluzco was arrested twice before for drunk driving and had a previous conviction for drug possession. Legislation under consideration at the statehouse, dubbed “Noah’s Law” in honor of Leotta, would require ignition interlocks at a .08 percent blood alcohol level for offenders.

Leotta’s parents, Rich Leotta and Marcia Goldman, faced reporters carrying a photo of their son.

Rich Leotta, his voice choked with emotion as he recalled the severity of his son’s injuries.

“Nobody should have to watch their child take their last breath. And I did. That’s my last memory of him,” Rich Leotta said.

A week before the task force where he lost his life, Noah had talked to his father about the light punishments doled out to Maryland’s drunk drivers.

“My son was murdered … his life was stolen from him,” the elder Leotta said.

Manger noted that he has had 49 police officers struck by drunk drivers in the past five years.

Associations representing the state’s police chiefs and sheriffs both support the legislation, as does the U.S. Park Police.

»The parents of slain Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta urge for tougher drunk driving laws; police chief Tom Manger is seated/CNS file photo