With the streets of downtown State College a little quieter this State Patty’s Day, police have reaffirmed a downward trend in the infamous student-created holiday, according to preliminary statistics released Sunday.
The State College Police Department and Penn State Police released their own separate reports regarding the amount of total calls, arrests, citations and other violations they fielded this past weekend.
State College Police Department Lt. Mark Argiro said they saw fewer calls this year, but the numbers are still too high.
Between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Sunday, State College Police received 327 calls, which is 21 percent less than the 412 calls received over State Patty’s Day weekend last year. The total arrests and citations for this weekend equaled 138, which was down 39 percent from last year’s 225, State College Police said.
Between 7 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Sunday, Penn State Police reported a total of 59 incidents, 35 arrests and filed a total of 46 charges, Penn State Police said.
State College Police reports
Argiro said he did not believe as many out-of-town visitors came for this State Patty’s Day compared to previous years. This downward trend may have been due to the bars closing and the cooperation of community members, Argiro said.
For visitors that did come from out of town, Argiro said they came from colleges and universities including Villanova University, West Chester University, Temple University, Delaware County Community College, Kutztown University and various Penn State commonwealth campuses.
Argiro said that this State Patty’s Day was successful in the sense that there were no major incidents of deaths or serious injuries, but unsuccessful in that there were still many violations.
Argiro also said apartment building managers and owners helped to reduce problems this weekend by giving the police tips on potential parties that could have gotten out of hand. If apartment managers heard anything that might be a problem, they would call police, he said.
“We’ve had such great cooperation with the apartment buildings over the year,” he said.
In working with the apartments, Argiro said that the State College Police Department received calls about parties on almost every floor of the Meridian Apartments, 646 E. College Ave., in the early afternoon on Saturday and then shut them down.
Argiro also said that police responded to less incidents overnight Saturday, likely because the temperature became colder.
While the State College Police Department responded to many public drunkenness and alcohol-related calls this weekend, they also responded to other incidents related to theft, property damage, assaults and even streaking.
At about 11:30 p.m. Friday, a male fell down a set of stairs and crashed into the railing and window of India Pavilion, 222 E. Calder Way, shattering it, owner Baljinder Dadra said.
The male was injured in the fall and taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for lacerations above his right eye, police said.
Dadra said he will likely not press charges against the man because police said the man was willing to pay for the damages. Dadra said the damages will likely cost upward of $1,000.
At 2:54 p.m. Saturday, unknown individuals stole a six-foot tall sign from Discovery Space, 112 W. Foster Ave., police said. The sign was a picture of the “Curio Man” who holds a magnifying glass, police said.
At 7:32 p.m. Saturday, State College police responded to an incident on the 800 block of Bellaire Avenue in which several males were threatening another individual, police said. One of the males took out a knife and held it close to the individual’s face, police said. Police said charges are pending in the case.
State College Police responded to another knife-related incident at 11:40 p.m. Saturday at the Uni-Mart, 1200 S. Atherton St., in which a 16-year-old male wielded a knife with a metal knuckle and threatened another individual, police said. Police also found another fixed blade hunting knife on the male’s belt, police said. Charges will be filed against the juvenile, police said.
At about 2:19 p.m. Saturday, a streaking male was caught by police at 700 W. Highland Alley, police said. Police said the male had lost a bet at a party and proceeded to run around the block while nude.
Argiro also said more charges or citations could be filed within the next week as police review video surveillance from apartment buildings.
Penn State Police reports
Penn State Police also saw a decrease in the total numbers of incidents reported and charges filed during State Patty’s Day weekend this year compared to 2012, according to preliminary statistics released Sunday.
The 59 incidents reported to police this past weekend was down from 96 incidents reported in 2012, police said. Forty-nine of those incidents occurred on-campus and 10 occurred off-campus, police said.
Of the 35 arrests made this weekend by Penn State Police, 23 were Penn State students and 12 were non-students, police said. Twenty-six people were arrested for Minor’s Law violations, five for public drunkenness, one for disorderly conduct and three for criminal trespassing, police said.
The arrest numbers don’t include incidents that involve further investigation and additional charges, Penn State Police Chief Tyrone Parham said via email.
Police reported that the number of charges filed this year also decreased from 108 in 2012 to 46 this year, police said.
Penn State Police also said that 10 students and one non-student were transported to the hospital.
Penn State Police also responded to several incidents that occurred on campus, including a fight that occurred Saturday near Redifer Commons on McKean Road, police said.
A group of people engaged in a fight sometime between 5:44 and 6:28 p.m. and no injuries were reported, police said.
The incident was reported on the University Police Daily Activity and Fire Log as disorderly conduct, harassment, ethnic intimidation and simple assault.
Police said they could not release further information about the fight because it is an ongoing investigation.
Other agencies report
Mount Nittany Medical Center Director of Communications Nichole Monica said between midnight on Friday and 7 a.m. on Sunday, the hospital treated 43 people for alcohol-related injuries or conditions, which could have included falls, overdoses, poisoning and sexual assault. Monica could not confirm how many of those individuals were Penn State students.
In 2012, the hospital saw 54 alcohol-related events over State Patty’s Day weekend, 36 of which involved Penn State students, according to a press release issued on the Mount Nittany Medical Center website.
Liquor Enforcement Officers from the Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Enforcement Board, who assisted in enforcement over the weekend, cited and/or arrested 10 people for underage possession, one person for disorderly conduct, two people for public drunkenness and one person for false identification, according to a press release issued by Pennsylvania State Police Sunday.
In addition, criminal charges are pending against three adults for furnishing alcohol to minors, according to the release.
