By Jen Myers

Ah . . . remember the good old days when the KIDS got drunk at the prom? Like when some members of the Dracut High class of '93 got wasted and arrested at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire, ruining the "fun" for generations to come?
Well, times have changed. Kids, parents and schools have become more aware. There are assemblies about prom safety, mock drunken driving crashes staged at high schools, and school-sponsored after-prom parties.
A group of Lowell Catholic High School kids did the right thing. They hired a limo -- an immense stretch Cadillac Escalade number from Lynette's Limousine Service in Wilmington to make sure they got to their prom and back home again safely.
Think again.
While they were dancing the night away at the Westford Regency Friday night, the driver apparently had other plans.
When he picked them up at 11 p.m., the kids say he was slurring his words.
The students, including Bianca Crowley of Billerica and her date John Harris of Lawrence, said they saw him gulping out of a cup and noticed the smell of alcohol, likely rum, while he was driving.
Eventually, they convinced him to pull into the parking lot of the Showcase Cinema in Lowell. The kids got out of the car and called their parents and police. They also called two classmates, who arrived and parked the limo in so the driver could not leave before the police arrived. See, they produce some smart kids over there at Lowell Catholic.
They said the driver begged them not to call the police, got rid of the cup he was drinking from, smoked a cigar and threw-up.
The kids stood outside the cinema in their fancy clothes and watched the police administer a sobriety test and haul him away.
The kids are upset about what happened, what could have happened and that they paid $1195 for this "adventure."
I tried to call the General Manager of Lynette's, Marco Delgado, but he had "stepped out." I left a message, but have not heard from him yet. I am awaiting a press release from the LPD with more information.
This is not the first time a driver from Lynette's has found himself on the wrong side of the law . . . .
Check out Sunday's Sun for the full story.

Here is Mr. Brian Harrison, 45, of Tewksbury, as he was booked for OUI.

I was at home when I got the Lowell Police press release identifying the man killed at the substation in Lowell yesterday. Read all about it here.

About one second after reading Ren's home address I realized who he was though.

He had been charged, though I'm told he wasn't the shooter, with attempted murder in connection with a Sept. 28 shooting right outside of his house. Ngy "Dreamer'' Meak, 31, of Lowell, was hit by a shotgun blast on Mary Theresa Terrace on Sept. 28 during a fight outside of a party about 4 a.m. Meak was taken to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston but soon recovered.

Ren was arrested almost immediately and charged with armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery. He was initially held, but later released on bail. It wasn't until early February that police arrested Michael Vangpa, of 50 Pine St., Unit 22, on a warrant charging him with armed assault with intent to murder in connection with the same incident. Police said Vangpa was the shooter, but that Ren was still charged for his participation, which was never described to me in detail.

I also wrote about the tire theft arrests that Ren was apparently fleeing from. You can read that story here if you forget.

Superintendent Lavallee told me there had been several similar thefts around the city recently, but police only had enough evidence to charge these guys with the one they were caught in the act of.

Unlike the newspaper's main website, I have to approve all comments on this blog. I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now that I won't be approving any comments that are out of line on this. This kid is dead, and that's the end of this story. We have an obligation to report on who this kid was, but I won't approve comments that are tasteless.

Here's our video on the death. This one wasn't shot by me.

There have been quite a few robberies the last two weeks, two in Dracut, one in Chelmsford, one in Tewksbury, one in Groton, and one in Lowell in which a woman was robbed when two guys pressed something against her stomach.
She was 4-months pregnant, so that was enough to make her give up her purse.

I'm not sure anyone has been caught so clearly by surveillance cameras as the guy who robbed Enterprise Bank on Gorham Street Tuesday afternoon.
I've learned from previous robberies that most Enterprise branches have darn good cameras inside, and here is even more proof.

If you know who this is, call (978) 937-3200, or Crimestoppers. If you call Crimestoppers, not only can you stay anonymous, but a number you are assigned when you give your tip can help you get up to $1,000 if your information leads detectives to an arrest.