Party Escalates Into Riot Posted 2010-04-10
Police Use Tear Gas To Disperse Crowd
By Pete DeLea
Lt. R.Sites of the Harrisonburg Police Department leads out one arrested partygoer attending Springfest on Saturday. As of late afternoon, several dozen people had been arrested at the annual block party that takes place at off-campus housing near James Madison University.
Photograph by Pete DeLea
HARRISONBURG - Police used pepper spray and tear gas to break up a crowd of as many as 8,000 college-aged adults Saturday, as partygoers at an annual off-campus block party refused orders to disperse and pelted officers with beer bottles.
A few dozen people were seen being arrested and several were injured by flying glass during the afternoon and early evening just blocks from James Madison University. A number of fires also were started in trash bins.
"This today was just outlandish," said Lt. Kurt Boshart of the Harrisonburg Police Department, who added many of the problems were most likely started by people who come to the party from out of town and not JMU students.
Harrisonburg police were on standby starting Friday evening in anticipation of the large crowds that flock each year to the off-campus housing area for Springfest - a three-day party known to draw thousands of JMU students.
The Fox Hill Townhomes on Devon Lane typically serves as ground zero for the block party, but the crowds usually spill out to other student-housing complexes along Port Republic Road.
By Friday night, property managers shut down Fox Hill, so the partygoers were forced to find somewhere else to go.
Police say the party headed to Village Lane, where things started to get out of hand.
By Saturday afternoon, the crowd swelled to 8,000 people, police say.
Andrew Reese, a 20-year-old JMU sophomore, said the party just got too wild. He said he had a few friends at his home on Forest Hill Road but several uninvited guests started to flood the area.
"It definitely got to the point where it got out of control," said Reese, who added partygoers started to throw beer bottles at police officers, cars and at home windows.
Around 4 p.m., police declared the scene an unlawful assembly.
Boshart said officers first went in and asked people to leave the area but were pelted with beer bottles. At that point, he said, police pulled out to regroup.
Commanders on the scene called in HPD's Civil Disturbance Unit and additional riot teams from the Virginia State Police and Staunton Police Department.
Boshart said officers were determined to regain control.
"We will restore order," he said as police began to take action. "We will make sure the neighborhood is safe."
For about two hours, dozens of officers showed up to the command center set up near the Days Inn off Port Republic Road, near the Interstate 81 overpass.
Around 6 p.m., about 200 officers were on the scene, many of them in full riot gear, and headed into the crowd.
They began using a public address system to notify people that they were assembling unlawfully and needed to leave or be arrested.
Many partygoers left, but about 1,000 refused. They began pelting the officers with beer bottles, pieces of wood and coolers.
Officers began using pepper spray, which can be effective as far as 20 feet away. The civil disturbance unit then used tear gas to disperse the remaining partygoers.
Many ran out, covering their faces, and shouting obscenities at the officers.
Reese said he was pleased to see police take control of the party.
"At some point, you have to put your foot down," he said.
Shortly after the crowd dispersed, many partygoers began to head to Sully Drive off Devon Lane and regrouped. Several began lighting multiple Dumpsters on fire.
Around 9 p.m., several VSP and medical helicopters were dispatched to the Harrisonburg area to assist with air patrol.
Bosart said, "gatherings will not be tolerated tonight."
Police planned to have patrols through the night.
Springfest is one of the largest parties of the year among JMU students. The other occurs the first weekend before school starts.
During these parties, officers usually write dozens of citations for underage drinking, possessing an open container and littering.
The last time a JMU-linked party got out of hand was about 10 years ago, when the back-to-school block party turned into a riot. Dozens were arrested then and several officers were slightly injured.
Given this weekend's incident, Boshart said the department will sit down with community leaders in the near future to discuss what took place and how to avoid it in the future.
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or
pdelea@dnronline.com
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