This year’s spring fest season saw a slight increase in arrests compared to last year’s, although arrests under Ohio University’s semester system still pales in comparison to the spring of 2012, the year of Ohio University’s final quarter.
Local and state law enforcement agencies made a total of 279 arrests during the 2014 spring fest season, a slight increase from the 266 made in 2013. But that’s still down from the 353 arrests law enforcement made in 2012 during OU’s last Spring Quarter.
Athens Police made a total of 40 arrests during street fests — which are on Mill, High and Palmer streets as well as at the Palmer Place apartment complex. OU Police arrested 47.
Those agencies did not make any arrests at the site of 12Fest, officials said, though APD made many arrests the day of #Fest and within close proximity of the event.
The Ohio Investigative Unit, the division of the state Department of Public Safety responsible for the undercover agents that frequent Athens, arrested a combined 188 people during the street fests and 12Fest, where the Athens County Sheriff’s Office arrested four people on public intoxication charges.
Per the usual, #Fest saw the most arrests of any spring fest with 89.
Mill Fest saw the most arrests of any street fest this season with 75.
Some of the common charges faced by those arrested included underage drinking, false identification, obstructing official business, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.
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