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A City Employee Throws An Illegal Party In A North Miami School Gym

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Hundreds of college students flocked to a North Miami residential neighborhood to party at a gym normally used by elementary and middle school kids.

DJ Thunder, who was celebrating his birthday, tweeted to his followers that the indoor gym can easily fit 1,000 people, “so thats what we aimin for.”

College students from as far as Boca Raton streamed into Cagni Gym, 700 NE 137 St., for what some were calling “the all you can drink” party.

The much-anticipated bash with free liquor and a $15 to $20 cover charge was not authorized.

The “security guard” who organized the event was actually a contract North Miami parks employee who used his supervisor’s keys to access the building. Kepler Valbrun is now unemployed, the city declined to renew his contract. 
 

A police investigation is underway.

Here’s how the the event unfolded according to social media posts, police reports and city records obtained by WLRN:

Leading up to September 13, party promoters, DJs and students on social media promoted and raved about “#Reload2k14 College Clash Juice Jam.”

Flyers advertising the college bash on Twitter announced tickets being sold at Florida International University, Barry University, University of Miami, Johnson and Wales University, Florida Memorial University and Florida Atlantic University.

The party’s location, Cagni Gym in North Miami, was highlighted as a great space for the liquor-fueled fete. The gym is used by Arch Creek Elementary and North Miami Middle during school hours. After school, North Miami’s parks department controls the gym's programming.

On Sept. 13, the gym's doors opened at 10 p.m. for the college bash.

 

Partygoers gyrated and represented their schools in a call and response with a DJ: “Who run this motha?"

Around 1 a.m., North Miami police officers responded to excessive noise at the gym. While inside, officers “detected the presence of marijuana and observed the distribution of alcohol.”

North Miami parks employee Valbrun, who was wearing a security uniform, identified himself as the party’s organizer. State records show Valbrun is not a licensed security officer.

Miami-Dade Schools police took over the investigation and shut down the party.

Partygoers took to Twitter to express their disappointment. One attendee lamented he came all the way from Palm Beach.

Credit Miami-Dade Corrections.
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Miami-Dade Corrections.
Jesse Lopez mugshot.

But Jesse Lopez, 21, wasn’t ready for the party to end. He was arrested after yelling racial epithets at an officer and refused to the leave gym. While Lopez was in custody, he shouted at officers, "You know you f---ed up. My mom is a cop just like you. I’m going to sue you.”

On Sept. 15, Valbrun was notified by North Miami that he was suspended without pay until the police investigation is complete.

In an undated affidavit to Miami-Dade School’s Police, Anthony Garcia, Valbrun's supervisor, wrote he did not give Valbrun permission to use his keys to throw a college bash at the gym.

Garcia wrote Valbrun texted him around 2:58 a.m. after police shut down the party.

The text read, “Yo, I f---ed up. I’m sorry... Call me ASAP I already know I’m finna lose my job.”

Scroll below to see a progression of events as told by attendees through social media.

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