The 18th birthday party for Alejandro Chassin Godoy at his parents’ house in the middle-class Mirador del Sol neighborhood had been advertised on social media.
Chassin said he expected 100 friends to show up but as the evening progressed the number swelled to around four times that amount.
So large was the turnabout that the house became too small to hold everyone and the party spilled out onto the residential street.
Even before midnight struck, neighbors made at least ten calls to police to complain at the noise. Chassin’s mother, Noelia Godoy, also admitted calling the police after becoming concerned that the crowd on the street was getting out of control.
At first, Zapopan police officers merely observed proceedings at a distance from their patrol cars.
According to Zapopan Police Chief Hernan Guzar, officers called for back up when some of the partiers began to hurl bottles at their vehicles.
When reinforcements arrived, around 50 officers then stormed the house, using tear gas to quell the revelers before escorting them out on to the street and forcing them to lie face down.
Police said they seized 462 grams of marijuana, along with two knives, in the operation, during which six people were slightly injured. As many as 20 percent of the detainees were under the age of 18, according to reports.
Police had released all 281 detainees by Sunday afternoon. It is unclear whether any will be charged.
Talking to reporters after their release, some of the arrested youngsters criticized the Zapopan police officers for their “arrogance” and “excessive use of force.” One alleged that officers used stun guns to subdue the party goers.
A few acknowledged that too many people were at the party given the size of the house but insisted all were behaving properly and denied that many were drunk.
On Tuesday, Chassin posted a statement on Facebook giving his version of events. He claimed the music at the party was not excessively loud and that the revelers “bothered nobody.” He admitted that one bottle was thrown at the police but with such little force that didn’t even reach their vehicles. He said police officers should have taken action against the individual without breaking up the party.
Chassin said the police officers fired rubber bullets into the air, took items from the property, broke windows and caused damage to the property.
Godoy, Chassin’s mother, also blamed police officers for trashing her house and reckoned the repairs would cost around 25,000 pesos.
Chassin admitted it was perhaps a mistake to advertise the party on social media. One unsubstantiated report suggested the party was promoted on Facebook as “La fiesta de los 4 mil” (The party of 4,000).
Friends of Chassin say they are organizing another party next weekend to help raise money to repair the damage.
Police Chief Guizar has begun an internal investigation into the incident and said his force will fork out for damages if police officers are found to be at fault.
Officials from the Jalisco Human Rights Commission (CEDH) said they will also start a probe after receiving several complaints about the behavior of the police officers.
The CEDH promised to investigate claims that blasts resembling gun or “gotcha” shots were heard on videos taken during the police operation.