AMHERST — Police responded to 293 calls for service during Homecoming weekend at the University of Massachusetts, including a fight at a dance on campus, incidents near the downtown bars and an intruder who fell asleep in an off-campus home who was arrested early Sunday morning after refusing to leave.
That incident was reported at 1:48 a.m., when Northampton Road residents discovered the man in their apartment, said Detective Marcus Humber.
Justin Gardner, 23, of Somerville, was arrested on charges of breaking and entering to commit a misdemeanor and trespassing, Humber said. It was uncertain how Gardner got into the home.
That was the most serious off-campus incident during a weekend in which thousands of people returned for Homecoming at the University of Massachusetts.
Six Amherst police officers, along with Hadley officers, were summoned to the UMass campus early Sunday morning when a fight broke out at 1:47 at the Student Union Ballroom during the annual Homecoming dance sponsored by the Black Mass Communications Project.
A juvenile UMass student is being charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, while a non-UMass student is being summoned to court on a charge of disorderly conduct, said UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski.
Three officers were slightly injured during the fight and pepper spray was used to maintain control, Blaguszewski said.
As hundreds of people left the event when it ended at 2 a.m., a second fight occurred outside the Campus Center, but no one was identified or arrested, Blaguszewski said.
Much of the Amherst Police activity was centered in downtown near the bars.
Brian Patrick Smith, 21, of Marshfield, was arrested at 12:58 a.m. Saturday near the Monkey Bar, 63 North Pleasant St., on a charge of disorderly conduct, Humber said.
A disturbance in the area of Club Lit, 41 Boltwood Walk, was reported at 1:19 a.m. Saturday. That ended when security staff for the bar sent people on their way.
Four men fighting in front of Antonio’s, 31 North Pleasant St., 15 minutes later were calmed down by police.
At 9:22 p.m. Saturday, police found a man climbing onto a Fearing Street sign. The man admitted to officers that he was trying to take the sign down for “nostalgia,” and police sent him on his way.
Evan Anthony Andreatta, 22, of Burlington, was arrested at 12:19 a.m. Sunday near 37 North Pleasant St. on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of an open container of alcohol, Humber said.
Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson said ambulances were busy Saturday night into Sunday morning, handling 22 medical calls, 15 of which were related to alcohol. A dozen people who were heavily intoxicated were transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton between midnight and 4 a.m., Nelson said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
