Police arrested 15 men, including three Ohio University students, during the near riot at Palmerfest late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Two more could be OU students, but records from Athens police and the university registrar don't contain enough information for a conclusive match. A sixth man affiliated with OU last attended classes
this summer.
The Palmerfest troublemakers, both those arrested and others who melted away after police arrived, represent a very small section of the student body, said OU Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi. Frankly
it's not entirely surprising that the number of OU students arrested was, at most, six of 15, Lombardi said.
Officers charged all 15 with various misdemeanors, including assaulting a police horse, obstructing official business, rioting and underage consumption of alcohol. Six appeared in municipal court yesterday for arraignment hearings.
Of those, the charges against Eric J. Jones, a senior studying photojournalism, appear the most serious. Officers say Jones hit a police horse in the face, obstructed police business and grabbed an officer's baton. Jones pleaded not guilty to all charges and said he would ask the Center for Student Legal Services to represent him in court.
They just claim that I hit a horse with my camera Jones said, adding that police took his Canon D5 and the hundred photos on his memory card as evidence. I was there purely for journalistic reasons trying to document the thing.
Two of the three charges against Jones are first-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in prison, a $1,000 fine and 500 hours community service.
Another student also said he was wrongly arrested. David J. August, a junior studying communications, said he was drinking on his roof when several people entered his house at 15 Palmer St. and climbed onto the roof to attack him, apparently under the impression he was throwing things at them.
I'm worried about falling off the roof. I'm like 'Stop
stop
' August said, adding that the men fled when officers arrived to break up the fight.
The complaint against August charges him with underage consumption, a first-degree misdemeanor. Officers found August intoxicated, with poor balance and bloodshot eyes.
I got beat up by four dudes and then arrested
August said. It was bad.
The man who attempted to run off with the stop sign at the corner of Mill and Palmer streets also paid a visit to the courthouse yesterday but did not appear in court.
Grant Janson, who isn't listed in the university's student database, paid $119 for grabbing the sign, after other revelers ripped it from the ground, and running toward East Green. Officers arrested him shortly afterward.
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Dave Hendricks
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