A party in an apartment building on the 1100 block of West Owens came to an abrupt end Friday night with just three little sounds: knock, knock, knock.

A Bismarck Police task force set up to bust minors in possession of alcohol and adults buying alcohol for minors resulted in five juvenile arrests, the arrest of two adults facing charges of delivering alcohol to minors and the arrest of 17 adults between 18 and 20, nine of them at the West Owens party.

According to Lt. Richard Poppe, the deliveries charges resulted from separate instances involving a 21-year-old Bismarck man and a 23-year old Bismarck man. The 23-year-old was seen giving a six pack of beer and two bottles of malt liquor to two underage females in the vicinity of the south location of Captain Jack's liquor store. The other instance took place near Polar Package Place, where a 21-year-old man was seen receiving money from an 18-year-old Bismarck woman and returned to the vehicle with beer and vodka. The 23-year-old man was taken to Burleigh County jail and later released. The 21-year-old and the women were arrested and released pending formal complaints.

Of the 21 minors, five were under 18. Poppe said the numbers indicate that those under 18 are not drinking, in what he hopes is a trend away from alcohol.

The task force's operation was not motivated by the death of a University of Mary football player earlier this month. Dusten Gailey, of Green River, Wyo., was found dead in his room early Oct. 12. Preliminary autopsy results attributed his death to alcohol poisoning.

Poppe said the police department tries to run the task force at least once a month and will add officers to duty when events such as Halloween, dances or graduation take place in efforts to curb alcohol consumption by minors. The number of minors arrested for possession varies in a normal weekend, depending on the work load resulting from regular calls. In addition to the arrests made by the task force, seven to eight people were arrested for DUI, Poppe said.

(Reach reporter Angie Buckley at 250-8255 or angiebuckley@ndonline.com)