Cops: Lindenhurst school board member's husband gave teens alcohol

The husband of a Lindenhurst school board member gave his teenage daughter and her high school friends booze for a backyard house party, Suffolk County police said in announcing the husband's arrest Saturday.

James Bartolomeo, 50, was charged with a misdemeanor related to the provision of alcohol to minors.

He was freed on bail paid at the police precinct, authorities said. He's due in court on Dec. 7.

A police spokesman said Bartolomeo is the husband of Julie Bartolomeo, 45, who resigned Wednesday from the nine-member Lindenhurst Board of Education amid allegations that she was being investigated by police.

It wasn't immediately clear whether her resignation -- she'd been a board member since July 1, 2011 -- was prompted by the underage-drinking case.

On Sept. 25, James Bartolomeo allegedly let his daughter, 17, invite about eight of her Lindenhurst High School classmates over to the family home, on South Second Street. As the teens arrived, police said, James Bartolomeo "placed a quantity of beer, Twisted Tea and Four Loko, all alcoholic beverages, in the backyard."

"Bartolomeo stayed inside the house but periodically checked on the teenagers as they drank the alcohol," police said in a news release. Police didn't explain why the arrest came about two weeks after the party.

The district said on its website that the board had "been made aware of information and allegations regarding Mrs. Bartolomeo in recent days" and it "was then obligated to share this information with Suffolk County Police."

A message left last night at the home wasn't returned.