‘There were throngs of people’: Huge party on Oahu draws enforcement, safety concerns

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Waimanalo community watch group says a Veterans Day beach party was anything but family-friendly.

Residents say they warned officials days before about the huge party being planned near Sherwoods Beach, but nothing was done to shut it down sooner.

“There were just throngs of people everywhere. Loud music, drinking, drugs,” said Kapua Medeiros, a Waimanalo Neighborhood Board Member.

Medeiros was one of three members from the group who went to the area near Sherwoods on Friday.

“They were having sex in the bushes,” Medeiros claimed.

The group says they tried to sound the alarm about the party after seeing a social media post earlier in the week promoting it.

“We began to alert many different agencies like DLNR and HPD and we got no answer,” said Medeiros.

DLNR confirmed it did receive a tip about the party but said the area falls under the jurisdiction of the city.

A spokesperson for the Honolulu Police Department would not confirm if they received a tip but did say officers responded to a complaint on Friday of a “loud party.”

They responded around 5:30pm to shut it down.

“If they had taken our warnings seriously, maybe they would have had a better presence here,” added Medeiros.

HNN went back to the area with members of the community watch group as they cleaned up, finding pill-shaped objects in the area.

Hawaii News Now reached out to the person who created a social media posts to promote the event and is awaiting a response.

HNN also did not hear back from HPD if officers cited anyone at the party.

The community watch group said they welcome more enforcement from HPD in this area but in the meantime they will continue their patrols.

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