Eugene Police Arrest 9 After Unruly St. Patrick's Day Party Draws 1,500
Nine people were arrested after roughly 1,500 party-goers flooded Eugene's West University neighborhood on March 14, with reports of intoxicated pedestrians trying to open doors of passing cars.
About 1,500 college-aged party-goers descended on East 14th Avenue between Hilyard and Patterson streets on March 14, overwhelming the West University neighborhood with a crowd that spilled into traffic, prompted complaints from residents, and ended with nine arrests and a medical emergency.
Eugene Police Department officers first responded to the large and growing gathering at about 1:30 p.m., quickly asking motorists to avoid the area as the crowd, composed primarily of people in their 20s, took over residential streets. For more than three hours, officers worked a scene that produced a widening list of public safety problems before enforcement actions began in earnest around 5 p.m., when police started urging people to leave the street.
Area residents reported people urinating in public and "getting into disputes" with neighbors, according to police. The situation extended well beyond noise and nuisance. "There were also calls from the public regarding concerns about intoxicated pedestrians in traffic, and some individuals who were attempting to open the doors of passing vehicles," a Eugene Police spokesperson said in a release. A male who fell and hit his head required a medical response on scene.
Three people were arrested, transported to the Lane County Jail, and charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, interfering with police, possessing an open container, resisting arrest, and providing false information to police.
Six additional arrests came from a single address. Police identified a house on the 600 block of East 14th Avenue as what officials called "the greatest source of activity." Officials described the party there as "unruly" in their release; the six individuals arrested at that address were charged with prohibited noise and cited for an unruly gathering.
Officers blocked the intersection at East 14th Avenue and Patterson Street after breaking up the party, a visible end point to a day-long enforcement operation that stretched well into the afternoon in one of Eugene's most densely populated residential neighborhoods.
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