Brigitta Burks • City Senior Writer • bb115006@ohiou.edu
A blazing couch drew as many as 300 people into the street during Oaktoberfest on Oak Street, prompting police to crack down on almost every party on the block Saturday night.
Partiers gathered around the fire at about 11 p.m., but Athens City firefighters quickly extinguished the flames and police officers cleared the streets and shut down parties by about 12:15 a.m., according to a news release.
Athens City Police officers arrested one Ohio University student, 20-year-old Thomas Saffell, for persistent disorderly conduct, underage consumption and possession of a false identification, according to a police release.
One officer threatened to throw partiers in jail if he had to return to the party for any reason, OU senior Alan Kutasy said.
Junior Lisa Wilson of 18 Oak St. said she was worried that her house would catch fire because the burning couch was nearby. Everyone evacuated the house with the assistance of the police, she said.
[The police] handled it well
Wilson said.
Other residents said police did not handle the situation as well.
Police yelled, Turn off the effin' music then pushed stereo speakers off a table at one residence, said Todd Myers, who lives at the house.
Police officers acted fairly, said Lt. Anthony Fish of the Athens City Police Department, adding that most partiers obeyed police.
I think the folks in the street sensed that our attitude was one they didn't want to deal with he said.
One officer did use pepper spray, Fish said, adding that the incident was localized and that using pepper spray is a common practice.
Prior to the party, Wilson spoke with her neighbors about avoiding a fire. She said that everyone agreed that they did not want to repeat last year's block party.
During last year's Oaktoberfest, partiers ignited beds, couches and chairs while chanting, Number one party school! Like this year, police shut down parties and forced everyone to leave the area.
Police also might have been wary of another Palmer Fest, said one party attendee, senior Nathaniel Huggins.
Palmer Fest, an annual block party every spring, resulted in 74 arrests after a near-riot when revelers started three fires.
However, Fish said that if partiers had thought about Palmer Fest, they never would have lit a couch on fire.
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Gail Burkhardt
