By: Nick Thompson (Whetstone Staff Writer)

Cochise Lucas/ Whetstone
Many students were surprised by an out-of-the-ordinary event on a normal Wednesday night.

“It felt like a DEA raid or something from a movie,” said junior Matt Ley. “In all the craziness that was going on, I just kinda walked out because I didn’t want to be caught up in it all.”

On Feb. 1, Dover Police and state Division of Alcohol & Tobacco Enforcement agnets raided the Loockerman Exchange and arrested eight people and charged them with underage drinking. The establishment and bartender who served them are facing charges as well. The arrested who were underage were charged and released pending court dates.

According to manager and bartender, Chris Koch, at least half of the people arrested were Wesley students.

Jeff Martinez aka DJ Starstruk, a Wesley College student who DJ’s at the LEX on Wednesday nights, said the raid was unexpected.

“They came in around eight-ish and did required checks of bartending license,” Martinez said. “But, then, maybe a half an hour from closing, they barged in, turned the lights on and I had an officer in front of me telling me to cut the music off.”

Others watching from outside believed the raid was overdone.

“I had just walked over to Angelo’s to get some pizza,” said sophomore Jon Petite. “There were a lot of cars, maybe six or seven and a K-9 unit. You would have thought there had been a bank robbery or something that happened.”

Junior Phil Brown was inside the bar at the time of the raid.

“Before I was 21, we would drink before we went to the LEX because you couldn’t get served at the bar without a wristband,” he said. “Everybody I saw getting arrested had a wristband on.”

The following Wednesday night drew a very sparse crowd.

“It was to be expected that not many people would come out the week after a raid, and it may be a couple weeks before they start coming back,” Martinez said. “But I have no doubt that we will be back in action soon enough.”

According to Delaware state law, a person under 21 may be on the premises of a bar if they are physically segregated from patrons over 21. However, a server should only accept a driver’s license, a state-issued ID card, a military ID or a passport.