MAN DIES AFTER OD AT PARTY

Cook County sheriff's officers were baffled when youngsters pulled up to
their roadside safety check Saturday and asked for directions "to the rave
at the Rosemont convention center."

It turned out that more than 6,500 revelers from across the
Midwest--including 20-year-old James C. Roberts III of Dayton, Ohio--were
headed to "Live on the Decks 4," a dance party at the center.

Roberts, who bought drugs at the party, died of an apparent overdose Sunday
morning after collapsing in a Best Western hotel room in Burbank, police said.

"We have preached to our kids about what drugs can do," said his father,
James C. Roberts II. "Obviously, I am upset my son is dead, but he has
responsibility because he was there."

Roberts, a security manager at a store in a Dayton suburb, learned of the
party on the Internet and showed up with three friends. He took Ecstasy and
Ketamine, an animal tranquilizer known on the street as "Special K."

Roberts started shaking and hallucinating after returning to a Burbank
hotel where he and his friends were staying, Burbank police Chief W.M.
Kujawa said. His friends called 911 and he was taken to Christ Hospital
Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 9:55 a.m. Sunday.

The Cook County medical examiner's office is waiting for results of a
toxicology test before determining a cause of death, a spokeswoman said.
Kujawa said he did not expect criminal charges. The chance of finding the
seller of the drugs is remote because so many people attended the party, he
said.

After his death, Roberts' friends told his father that he would surf the
Internet for information on how many drugs he could take without getting
sick. He once went to a friend's parents in high school to let them know
their son was taking cocaine, his father said.

Burbank police described Saturday's party as a "rave." And an Internet
search for "Chicago raves" displayed an Electronic Music Inc./Boogie Tribe
Web site that advertised the party.

But the party was booked as a "young dance, not a rave," said Jim Freeman,
executive director of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.
He called it a "college break-type function" and said his staff monitored
Internet traffic to make sure the event was not advertised as a rave.

"First and foremost, we are not rave promoters," said the Boogie Tribe
site. "Our goals, ideologies and event production attempt to defy the
`rave' stereotype of a drug-infested, illegal warehouse party."

The site warned partygoers not to bring weapons, drugs and pacifiers.
Ecstasy users sometimes chew on pacifiers to keep their teeth from grinding.

Rosemont police said about 6,500 people attended the event. They checked
the partygoers at the door, finding 18 false IDs and arresting one man on a
robbery warrant, Rosemont police Lt. Kieran J. Mackey said.

Bobby Benkowsky, 24, owner of EQ, a North Side clothing store, said the
dangers of raves have been overblown. Benkowsky sold tickets to the party
and was there Saturday.

"There's really no difference between a rave and a concert," he said. "The
majority of the people go there for the music and not for a drug experience."

Benkowsky said he did not see any drug-dealing at the event, although
people were caught with contraband at the door and asked to leave.

Last week, Mayor Daley announced a crackdown on Chicago building owners and
managers who allow rave parties where illegal drugs are used.

"It is very sad this young person had to die to illustrate the point the
mayor made last week that it appears, at least, that adults look the other
way when illegal activities are taking place at these parties," said
Jacquelyn Heard, spokeswoman for the mayor.