AMHERST — Amherst and University of Massachusetts police officers arrested or summoned to court 30 people, mostly for disorderly conduct and alcohol-related violations, during pre-St. Patrick’s Day revelry in North Amherst Saturday morning and early afternoon.
Much of the initial activity was centered at Townehouse Apartments, 50 Meadow St., where an unsanctioned, off-campus party was taking place, with police dispatch logs describing a “heavily congested quad” where people were pushing and shoving each other, and some were throwing punches.
Amherst Police and law enforcement partners responded to 126 calls for service throughout the day, beginning their North Amherst patrols at 5:24 a.m. By 8:15 a.m., officers had issued the first of three warnings for open container violations; three individuals were later charged with being minors in possession of alcohol.
By 10:32 a.m., fights broke out as the crowd grew, with snowballs being thrown, and at 11:13 a.m. police took a complaint from a North Pleasant Street resident about people trespassing on her property to get to Townehouse.
The sizable gathering for what has been known as “Blarney Blowout,” which began more than a decade ago as a downtown bar promotion, occurred even with police being proactive, including advising Uber drivers not to drop off people in the vicinity of Meadow Street.
By mid-morning, though, there were significant traffic backups on Pine and North Pleasant streets and Sunderland Road, where the entrance to the North Amherst Library parking lot was blocked off to prevent people from parking there.
During the day, nine individuals were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, with one person also facing a charge of assault and battery on a police officer, and another facing a malicious destruction of property charge after kicking and breaking the window to a Townehouse residence.
Amherst Fire Department reported 20 medical transports by ambulance, mostly related to alcohol consumption. Mutual aid ambulances were on scene to assist with getting people to the hospital for treatment.
As the activity eventually dissipated in North Amherst, at 1:33 p.m., police shifted attention to downtown, and a section of Pray Street near the bars, and to lower Main Street’s numerous off-campus rentals. Five people in those areas were charged with violating the town’s open container bylaw and seven others were issued warnings.
State Police and Amherst’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service assisted, with other out-of-town public safety partners also in town, fanning out to neighborhoods to deal with any issues. Prior to the weekend, there were also joint outreach efforts to off-campus residents and proactive police intervention, with alcohol being confiscated from anyone who was underage.
Meanwhile, UMass, which enacted both a parking ban on campus and restrictions to dorm rooms, reported close to 2,000 undergraduate students attended Spring Blast, a day of free field trips and campus experiences. These included skiing, snowboarding or snow tubing at Berkshire East; attending “Hamilton” or “Buena Vista Social Club” on Broadway in New York City; visiting the New England Aquarium or Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, or the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge.
The on-campus events included painting at the Makerspace, a live Dungeon & Dragons show, Lewberger and the Adventure Zone, along with athletics events such as women’s basketball and women’s and men’s lacrosse.