Three Charged in Underage Drinking Incident

Hillsborough Police charged a Hillsborough resident with providing alcohol to 19-year-olds from Hillsborough and Branchburg during a May 14 incident at Bottle King.

Kristine Kanellos, 22, of Hillsborough, was charged with providing alcoholic beverages to a person underage to possess, while Lauren Collins, 19, of Hillsborough, and Maxwell Swensen, 19, of Branchburg, were charged with underage possession of alcohol.

According to a release from the Hillsborough Police Department, while working the Cops in Shops detail at Bottle King, an officer allegedly observed an individual exit the store with what appeared to be a quantity of alcohol. The individual allegedly approached a vehicle parked in the business parking lot and proceeded to hand the alcohol to the vehicle's occupants, police said.

Believing the vehicle occupants were underage, the officer confronted them, determined them to be Collins and Swenson, and found they were under the legal age to possess alcohol, the release continued. They were subsequently charged with underage possession of alcohol.

The individual that allegedly purchased the alcohol was identified as Kanellos, and was then charged.

Collins and Swenson were released pending a court date in the Hillsborough Township Municipal Court.

Kanellos was released pending a court date in the Hillsborough Township Municipal Court.

The Cops in Shops program is an annual grant from the New Jersey State Division of Alcohol Beverage Control, using funds from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Details are held randomly during the year, with the aim of reducing underage drinking.