Kent Police clear downtown partiers from near new venue

Published 3:02 pm Monday, July 27, 2026

Kent Police told dozens of young adults, who had gathered Friday night, July 24 to party in downtown Kent at a new event venue, to leave the area after reports of a fight.

At about 10:57 p.m., an officer traveling downtown on the way to another call observed a large number of younger adults walking on East Smith street toward the Moda Event Venue, 403 W. Meeker St., according to a July 27 Kent Police Facebook post.

Because there had been a few recent police calls at this location for loud music, public intoxication and fights, according to police, the officer finished the call she was on, and circled back to check in with the staff at the location.

“She was advised by the event host that the event was 18 years of age and older, and no alcohol was being served,” according to a police statement. “The host was asked to mitigate the loud music by closing the exterior door, and he did that without complaint. The interaction went well.”

But about an hour later officers were dispatched to the area of the event center for a fight, according to police. Upon arrival they observed over a hundred people on West Meeker Street, and it appeared that the security for the event center was telling people to leave the venue. Multiple vehicles were illegally parked in business lots near the venue, and others were blocking the street.

“The venue host stated he had asked people to leave following an altercation inside,” according to a police statement. “It was rumored that one party went to their car to grab a weapon but took off on foot when security confronted him as he tried to re-enter.”

No injuries were reported.

Officers spent a considerable amount of time dealing with pockets of attendees who did not initially leave the area and were attempting to gather and party in the streets nearby, according to police.

Once everyone was successfully encouraged to leave, an officer contacted the host again just as he was about to go home. The officer could see bottles of alcohol on some of the tables, and cans of beer and trash on the sidewalks surrounding the business. She requested that the host clean up those items before leaving and he agreed.

At this point, direct evidence of serving underage clients is not available, according to police.

According to a statement, the Police Department is reaching out to work with the owners and staff for an ongoing solution to the problems at the venue.

Owner unaware of incident

A woman, who answered a phone call July 27 from the Kent Reporter at Moda Event Venue, said she owned the event center but claimed she didn’t know anything about the July 24 incident or the Kent Police Facebook post. She said the venue opened about three months ago.

The owner said someone else hosted a Friday night, July 25 event that she was not part of. She said she would call back the newspaper after she found out more about the incident and read the Kent Police post, but the Kent Reporter has not heard back.

In its own Google review, Moda Event Venue says it “is ideal for both corporate and social events, including weddings, baby showers, graduations, birthdays, meetings, conferences, workshops, networking events, and other private celebrations.”