A police officer on horseback chased down a festgoer during Mill Fest on Saturday.
Athens Police Department Chief Tom Pyle said the chase might have started because someone threw a beer that hit someone else in the head. Officers chased the person across the street into another party, then back onto the side of the street where it began. This included a horseback officer going through the backyard of a house where people were gathered.
Officers then approached the house where they believed the suspect to be and emptied it of partiers at about 1:30 p.m.
Mill Fest started at about 11 a.m., and most houses were shut down by 3:30 p.m. Pyle said this year’s Mill Fest was just like any other year, but there were more people urinating publicly than at previous fests.
The overcast weather didn’t bother the festgoers playing beer pong, throwing footballs and frisbees, and listening to “Sicko Mode.”
Jahangir Khan, a second-year graduate student studying sports administration, said last year was better because it had a bigger crowd and better weather. Khan received his undergraduate education in Pakistan and said there aren’t house parties like this in Pakistan. Khan said he feels like he is really getting the undergraduate experience.
Alec Johnson, a freshman studying chemical engineering, said Mill Fest was much more hectic than a regular weekend.
Mayor Steve Patterson walked up and down Mill Street during the fest. His favorite part of the fests: when they are over, due to safety reasons. Patterson said he likes to see people having fun and that the people who are having “too much” fun are being taken care of by their peers.
A total of 19 people were arrested at this year’s Mill Fest. Last year, 28 people were arrested by police.
APD arrested four people on alcohol-related charges, according to a report from City of Athens officials.
The Ohio University Police Department charged eight people with alcohol-related offenses. One call to OUPD received was about a person that passed out and couldn’t get out of a house.
The Ohio Investigative Unit arrested seven people, primarily on alcohol-related offenses.
Athens County Medical Service responded to four calls for service and took two people to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital for alcohol-related symptoms.
