Kent Police arrest 45 people on Halloween

Costumed partygoers cross traffic in downtown Kent on their way to the Zephyr Pub for the Halloween festivities on Oct. 31, 2015.

The Kent City Police arrested 45 people over Halloween weekend for charges including trespassing, burglary, public intoxication, drug possession, prohibitions, assaults and domestic violence.

A total of 28 people were charged with underage consumption over the weekend, said Lieutenant Michael Lewis of the Kent City Police Department.

The Kent State Police Department made 13 arrests of their own. However, only three of the arrests were made on Kent State students.

According to the Kent State Police Department, six people were charged with underage consumption, one being a student. Two OVI (operating a vehicle under the influence) arrests were made, both non-students, and three charges of possession of marijuana, only one of those being a Kent State student.

Last year during Kent’s Halloween celebration there were 43 total arrests. According to Fox 8 News of Cleveland, 29 people were charged with underage consumption, six were charged with disorderly conduct, six were charged with unlawful noise along with the arrest of two juveniles.

This year, the number of arrests made by the city police were similar to last year with only one juvenile being arrested.

While officers seemed to agree this past weekend is one of the least problematic Halloweens as of lately, many incidents still took place that evening.

A 36-year-old male fell over the railing by the West Main St. bridge and fell onto the railroad tracks, Lewis said.

“He was from out of town and wasn’t familiar with the area and when he went over the railing he didn’t realize that there was that significant of a drop off. He injured his leg and he was transported by Kent paramedics to a local hospital,” Lewis said. “He said that he wasn’t pushed over the railing he had just been drinking, wasn’t aware of the drop (and) got separated from his friends.”

Six people were also charged with criminal trespassing.

“Again, students are still trying to get into the College Avenue properties. Even though the fences (have) been posted all around the perimeter, we still had people climbing inside of that fencing,” Lewis said. “I believe a majority of them were under the influence of alcohol.”

A number of disorderly conduct incidents were reported as well.

This year there were at least five reports of fights and two reports of assault. At least two people were arrested for disorderly conduct after being warned, Lewis said.

“They were involved in a fight, they were told to stop, they continued (and) they were placed under arrest,” Lewis said.

Lauren First, a Kent State junior, can attest to the fighting as well.

“I saw a couple fights occur in a bar,” First said. “There were a lot of underage kids trying to sneak in.”

On Halloween this year, there were five reported vehicular accidents, according to the Kent Police Department recent accidents page.

One accident took place in the parking lot at Maplebrook Village apartment and one in the parking lot of University Edge apartments. A vehicle parked on Vine St. was struck during the night by an unknown driver. There was also two two-car accidents, one taking place on River St. and one on E. Summit St.

A man filed an incident report of a stolen scooter from him in the parking lot next to Wright Hall, on campus, at about 4 a.m. The victim was approached by five male suspects interested in taking the scooter for a joy ride. The victim attempted to get his scooter away from the suspects as they pushed him away and drove off with it. The victim was not harmed, but the incident is still under investigation with the Kent State Police.

The streets were heavily patrolled by local police officers and state highway patrol officers this year to keep drunk drivers off the roads; however, the Kent State police reported two OVI charges.

A number of Uber drivers were out on Halloween said Emily Denney, a Kent State junior.

“I took an Uber because I don’t like to take the risk of drinking and driving, especially on a night like Halloween,” Denney said.

The patrolling this year was not different than in previous years, Lewis said.

“We put officers out in walking teams just because the crowd is so dense,” Lewis said. “With people crossing the street constantly, not even really paying attention to the vehicular traffic, it is hard to get around.”

Overall, both campus police and Kent city police said this year wasn’t as much of an issue as some of the Halloweens in the past

“I would say this year we had, overall the Kent Police Department and ours, a much better time at controlling the crowd, and I think mother nature was responsible for some of that, because the weather wasn’t perfect and the rain kind of hit at a time when we’ve traditionally had problems,” said Sergeant Richard O’Neill of the Kent State Police Department.

O’Neill said that there were typical problems that result from a lot of people and alcohol, but none of them rose to the levels of the problems they have experienced in the past. As an event, O’Neill said that this was one of the better and safer Halloweens that he can remember.

Carson Kleinman and Dana Miller are the safety and transportation reporters for The Kent Stater. Contact Carson at [email protected]. Contact Dana at [email protected]