AMHERST — A large amount of alcohol consumption, a handful of altercations and complaints of public urination led to criminal charges being brought against more than 50 college-age people participating in pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebrations Saturday morning and afternoon, with most of the neighborhood disturbances taking place in North Amherst.

During what’s known by area college students as the Blarney Blowout, a name taken from its origins as a bar promotion in the 1990s, there were a few serious incidents, including the arrest of a 21-year-old Framingham man who had been involved in a fight at 1:09 p.m. in the area of Townehouse Apartments, 50 Meadow St., and was then taken into custody for assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct after allegedly pushing a police officer. A 19-year-old Milton man was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct during the same incident.

Much of the activity was centered on Meadow Street, with heavy foot traffic and congestion of vehicles along the road as hundreds gathered in the quads and green space at the complex until mid-afternoon.

Over a six-hour period starting at 9 a.m., Amherst Fire Department paramedics transported 17 people to the hospital from Townehouse, responding to calls to assist 16 intoxicated individuals there and handled six other trauma-related calls at the complex, said Fire Chief Tim Nelson. Those included treating a person with a hand injury after a fight at 2:56 p.m. Another person with facial injuries from the same altercation was advised to file a criminal complaint on his own. Another man reported he was injured at 1:27 p.m. while trying to force a man and woman hanging out in his apartment to leave after they refused to do so.

Throughout the daylight hours Saturday, paramedics went to 37 emergency medical service calls. Of the 61 emergency medical calls from Saturday at 7 a.m. to Sunday at 7 a.m., 37 people needed to go to the hospital, with responses also made to eight additional fire-related calls.

Four other disturbances, between 1:42 p.m. and 3:57 p.m., led to six people being arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. One of the arrests was of a woman who was acting out and, in the presence of police officers, struck a man, causing him to bleed.

While much of the activity was fueled by alcohol, only a handful of blackout rage gallons, or borgs — gallon milk jugs filled with vodka, water and energy drink — were evident after being prevalent at the event last year. College students had been warned in advance that even if a jug containing an alcoholic beverage they were holding had a cap on it, it would be considered a violation of the open container bylaw. At least one man arrested possessed a borg, allegedly intentionally splashing its pink liquid contents on an officer.

By mid-morning college-age people, most wearing green, were at the main intersection in North Amherst, with groups waiting for the walk signals and then crossing. That caused serious traffic tie-ups on the streets. But lower Main Street, often another flashpoint for the unsanctioned event, was largely quiet, though police were stationed in neighborhoods, such as Shumway Street.

The first criminal charges of the day were lodged at 9:05 a.m., when eight people, all 18 and 19 years old, were issued court summonses for trespassing on a North Pleasant Street property. Then, between 9:13 a.m and 2:15 p.m., 22 individuals, all 18, 19 and 20, were either summoned to court or arrested on charges of being minors in possession of alcohol and violating the town’s open container bylaw while hanging out at Townehouse Apartments. An additional five people there, ages 21 and 22, were summoned or arrested on charges of violating the open container bylaw.

One person was summoned to court for violating the town’s noise bylaw after playing loud music into the quads at the complex.

Seven other alcohol-related arrests or summons came between 9:20 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. at nearby locations, including Presidential Apartments on North Pleasant Street at Hobart Lane, at Riverside Park shopping plaza on Montague Road and at Puffton Village.

Police also took several complaints about public urination, though only one person was arrested for that offense. At 10:44 a.m, residents at Riverside Park Apartments on Montague Road called about college-age people being dropped off from PVTA buses and proceeding to urinate on buildings at the location. At 11:11 a.m. and 11:54 a.m., Fisher Street residents called about people urinating on their properties. Then, at 11:29 a.m., police took a report of a person urinating at the intersection of North Pleasant and Fairfield streets; and at 2:05 p.m., of a person urinating on another North Peasant Street property.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.