AMHERST — The fall semester’s first Thursday night proved to be a busy one for Amherst Police, with cops called to a large party in a residential neighborhood in South Amherst, a handful of disturbances near the downtown bars and numerous liquor law violations.
Between Thursday at 8:23 a.m. and Friday at 5:29 a.m., police handled 114 calls for service, a 50 percent increase from the same period last week, when police had 76 calls for service
At 12:01 a.m. Friday, officers found more than 300 people, most of whom were underage, consuming alcohol at a South East Street home where an Uber driver reported several fights taking place.
While officers didn’t observe any scuffles, the property was littered with empty cans and bottles and other trash, and drinking games were set up in the yard. Most people fled on foot.
Detective Yvonne Feliciano said a 20-year-old Wrentham man, determined to be one of the residents responsible for putting on the party, was issued a $300 ticket for violating the town’s nuisance house bylaw.
In the center of town, police responded to a bar at 12:18 a.m. Friday, where a man was allegedly shoving other patrons and causing a scene. He was sent on his way. About an hour later, also downtown, several men were shouting at each other and getting ready to fight. They were calmed down without incident.
Six individuals are facing charges for violating the town’s open container bylaw and being minors in possession of alcohol after they were located walking on Phillips Street and inside a vehicle stopped on Fearing Street, Feliciano said. Another five individuals were issued warnings for liquor law violations.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
