Weekend crime leads to 237 calls

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on April 18, 2008

Several loud parties and fights taking place around Amherst during the second weekend in April kept Amherst police officers busy and led to some of the 30 arrests and summons made by the department.

Capt. Michael Kent said Wednesday that police responded to numerous calls on April 11 and April 12. "We were straight out both nights," Kent said.

The 237 calls for assistance between April 11 and Sunday night included responses to loud parties on Lincoln Avenue, Colonial Village, Chestnut Street, Sunderland Road and East Pleasant Street at which a total of 17 arrests were made, as well as fights on Triangle Street and Phillips Street, where three men were arrested.

"It was a very busy weekend, just with the fights," Kent said. "They are fairly manpower intensive calls."

In fact, police spent more than 30 minutes breaking up the party at Colonial Village after party-goers there were found to be out of control and someone at the party struck an Amherst police officer with a thrown beer bottle. University of Massachusetts police assisted Amherst police in ending the party.

The officer sustained cuts and abrasions to her hand and, though treated at the scene by Amherst Fire Department paramedics, did miss one day of work as the result of her injuries, Kent said.

The fights included one on Triangle Street behind the DB Mart in which a man was beaten by three other men after he was already on the ground, and another on Phillips Street where one man threatened another with a pipe, and in turn was punched in the face.

Kent explained that most fights and some noise complaints are time consuming.

"We spend a lot of time breaking them up and it often takes a while to get a scene under control," Kent said.

This means that the response to some types of calls will not be made in a timely manner.

"Unfortunately, on a night like that, the routine noise complaints go to the bottom of the call list," Kent said.

While the Massachusetts State Police were in town both April 11 and April 12, and are expected to be in Amherst each weekend until the semester at UMass ends, Kent said they were not needed for any major disturbances. But having them present means additional police cruisers on the road and demonstrates due diligence to the community.

A complete list of all the arrests can be found in the police report on Page A9.