Officers probing possible drug OD

Man dies after taking Ecstasy at rave party

By Jim Hook
Staff Writer

March 20, 2001

Burbank police are investigating the death of a 20-year-old Dayton, Ohio, man who authorities said took several hits of the drug Ecstasy while attending a rave party over the weekend at a Rosemont convention center.

James Roberts III was pronounced dead at 9:55 a.m. Sunday at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, police said.

Roberts and three friends were staying at a Burbank hotel after attending the all-night "Live on the Decks IV" party Saturday at the Donald A. Stephens Convention Center, police said.

Roberts and his friends spent $250 buying 10 hits of Ecstasy from someone in the crowd, which was estimated at between 6,000 and 8,000 people, authorities said.

Police said Roberts took four hits of Ecstasy and consumed an undetermined amount of "Special K," which is a street name for ketamine, an animal tranquilizer.

Upon returning to the hotel about 6 a.m. Sunday, Roberts started "acting strangely," pacing back and forth in the room, police said.

Police said that after a couple of hours, Roberts began shaking and hallucinating, and his friends called 911.

The Cook County medical examiner's office is not issuing a cause of death for Roberts until it receives the results of toxicology tests on his body.

Rosemont police said they are also investigating the case.

Jim Freeman, convention center executive director, said while he "feels bad about what happened," the event was never billed as a rave party.

"The convention center is traditionally used for trade shows," Freeman said. "But occasionally there are dates that become available, and people book events.

"We approve these events very conservatively," he said. "We ask specific questions about the use of the facility, and we were told by the promoter of Saturday's event that it was not a rave party."

Freeman said 50 to 60 police officers worked security at Saturday's event.

A rave party is a large dance party where Ecstasy and other illegal drugs often are available, authorities said.

Police said Roberts and his friends learned about the party on the Internet.

Carol Lindsay, a certified alcohol and drug counselor at Christ Hospital, said rave parties are usually held in some type of "underground facility" such as a warehouse or abandoned building.

"People hear about rave parties through word of mouth and posters or fliers they see circulated about," Lindsay said.

She said a study indicated that the use of Ecstasy among adolescents is increasing.

"Kids see it as fun," Lindsay said. "Young kids think they are omnipotent. They think they are invincible.

"They think they are superheroes," she said. "But what they don't realize is that it can — and often does — kill them."

Lindsay said the number of deaths related to Ecstasy has been on the rise for the last two years across the country.

"It's a mild intoxication," she said. "People take one and feel a certain way. Then they think if one makes them feel a certain way, just think how four or five will make them feel. The mindset is 'the more the better.' "

But taking several doses of the drug puts a person at a greater risk of overdose, she said.