Arrests made, video producers accused in West Chester party chaos

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - May 6, 2013

West Chester police have arrested two young men and are hoping to round up more suspects.

That may eventually include the video producers who were allegedly behind the whole thing.

It was a wild scene on the 400 block of Walnut Street Saturday afternoon.

Angry students and other young people swarmed into the street when the police busted up an off-campus beer bash

They flipped over one car and then jumped on several others.

Video shows partygoers swarming over a black Pontiac. One person can be seen kicking in the windshield.

Action News spoke with a young man who was at the wheel the car.

"We just didn't know what to do. It was pretty scary, actually," the young man said.

He and two others did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation.

They're outraged by the behavior of their classmates.

They blame the people behind a video production company called 'I'm Shmacked.'

The videos feature outrageous behavior by drunken college students.

"If 'I'm Shmacked' never came to down, none of that would have happened in the first place," one of the young men said.

The students say 'I'm Shmacked' spread word that their cameras were coming to West Chester.

They say the company sold tickets to the party for $15.

"They didn't even ID people or anything like that, they just sold tickets all throughout campus and whoever wanted one could pretty much get one," one of the students said.

We contacted Arya Tonfaninan, one of the two partners of 'I'm Shmacked.'

Tonfaninan said only, "I didn't sponsor anything. We'll talk about it later."

After the disturbance, 'I'm Shamacked's' Twitter account sent out these messages: "Shoutout to the bull who broke the car window" and "Shoutout to whoever flipped the car too."

Police have arrested 19-year-old Zachary Geanates of Villanova.

They say he hosted the party and refused to call it off after repeated warnings.

They're also investigating 'I'm Shmacked's' involvement.

"What we'll do, we'll review all the facts with the district attorney and the district attorney's office and make the appropriate determination of what charges should be filed, if any," West Chester Police Chief Scott Bohn said.

In addition to the host of the party, police arrested another 19-year-old who refused to disperse.

They're now in the process of identifying the people who vandalized the cars and they too will face charges.

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