UPDATE @ 9:32 a.m. Monday: Community-outreach efforts seen on State Patty’s Day are profiled in this Monday column. Earlier coverage is posted below.
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UPDATE @ 6:42 p.m. Sunday: We’re learning more about the incidents reported to police over State Patty’s Day weekend. The latest story is posted here. Earlier coverage is posted below.
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UPDATE @ 1:34 p.m. Sunday: We’ve posted some more photos and new information on this updated news page. Earlier coverage is posted below.
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UPDATE @ 2:59 a.m. Sunday: Indigo has confirmed on its Facebook page that its early closure Saturday was voluntary. Kildare’s bar in State College, on East College Avenue, also closed earlier than usual Saturday — before midnight.
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UPDATE @ 10:16 p.m. Saturday: It now appears that the closure of Indigo was voluntary, not forced by law enforcement. We’ll post more information as we get it. Earlier coverage is posted below.
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UPDATE @ 9:58 p.m. Saturday: Indigo nightclub, on the 100 block of West College Avenue in State College, has closed, the club announced. Preliminary reporting suggests that law enforcement shut the establishment for the night. We’ll post more information as it becomes available. Earlier coverage is posted below.
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UPDATE @ 7:11 p.m. Saturday: The Phyrst bar, on the 100 block of East Beaver Avenue in State College, closed for the day at 6 p.m. Saturday. For an overview of other State College bars that have altered their weekend operating hours, head over to this page. Earlier coverage is posted below.
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Earlier report, posted @ 5:44 p.m. Saturday:
Late night has yet to fall on State Patty’s Day 2011, but already State College police are fielding more calls and seeing more people in town than they did during State Patty’s Day 2010, police Lt. Chris Fishel said.
In a 4 p.m. press briefing Saturday, he compared the activity in town to a Penn State football night-game weekend.
‘Except there’s no kick-off,’ Fishel said.
Through Saturday afternoon, he said, State College police received about 110 calls in a nearly 24-hour period. The department typically sees about a third of that during a normal 24-hour period, Fishel said.
Between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday alone, he said, the police’s call volume was equal to that of an entire normal Saturday.
‘It’s been extremely busy,’ said police Lt. Bradley Smail.
A number of reported incidents have involved college students from outside central Pennsylvania, including students from West Virginia University, Pitt and Saint Joseph’s University. Many of the calls have involved open beverage containers, disorderly conduct, fights and similar alcohol-related issues. The bulk of the activity is happening in the area bounded by Fairmount Avenue to the south, College Avenue to the north, Burrowes Street to the west and Sowers Street to the east, Fishel said.
Among the problems already outlined on the police log:
- A DUI was reported in the borough at 3:45 p.m. Friday. ‘It’s more like a football weekend when you get something like that’ so relatively early in the day, Smail said.
- ‘Happy State Patty’s Day’ was painted on the exterior of the McAllister Street parking deck, police said. That vandalism appeared Friday.
- A person suffering an alcohol overdose was picked up about 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the Days Inn lobby on Pugh Street, police said.
- A cue ball was thrown through a window on South Pugh Street, police said. That appears to have happened overnight between Friday and Saturday.
- An alcohol overdose involving a 16-year-old was reported shortly after midnight Saturday on the 500 block of South Pugh Street.
- A drunken 19-year-old tried to break into a residence on the 400 block of Martin Terrace, police said. The teenager was so inebriated, he thought he was at his own home, according to a police report. He was mistaken.
- A 20-year-old trying to walk home in College Heights was seen falling down in the neighborhood, police said. He was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he had to be restrained and sedated when he became combative, police said.
- An 18-year-old student from West Virginia University was arrested for DUI shortly after 10 p.m. Friday on the 400 block of West College Avenue, police said.
- Shortly before 8 p.m. Friday, a Virginia Tech student was found to be furnishing alcohol to two Slippery Rock University students and one Penn State student outside the state liquor store on Hamilton Avenue, police said.
- About 10:30 a.m. Saturday, a 42-year-old man was caught taking parking tickets from the windshields of cars parked on South Allen Street, police said. His blood-alcohol level was logged at 0.364, according to a police report. (To put that into context: The threshold for DUI in Pennsylvania is 0.08.)
Fishel said police began seeing intoxicated people about 10 a.m. Saturday. By 2 p.m., he said, police had begun seeing the effects of their intoxication.
Waves of fight and assault calls are expected later in the day, Fishel said.
Still, the news Saturday afternoon wasn’t all alcohol-soaked. A Penn State-student-led has group put together an alcohol-free Street Love Tour as one of numerous community-oriented alternatives. The tour, featuring food, beverages and live music, takes participants to several student residences across town. An organizer, David Adewumi, estimated that 75 people had joined in by late afternoon.
‘The idea is (for) people who still want to have fun but not be part of the ruckus,’ Adewumi said.
Some other students are involved in ‘State Service Day’ volunteer activities, among other events.
State Patty’s Day was created by Penn State students in 2007 as an unsanctioned, unofficial drinking holiday.
Earlier coverage
