Rioting rocks University Hill

By Brittany Anas, Camera Staff Writer
October 31, 2004

Police and swarms of rioters faced off for more than three hours on University Hill this morning as crowds bashed cars with street signs and set bonfires.

About 100 officers responded to the riots that erupted around midnight , using tear gas and pepper spray to break up crowds, said Boulder Police Cmdr. Kurt Weiler. Pellets and stun devices were also used by police.

A block party on 10th St. between College and Pennsylvania avenues grew out of control late Saturday night, police said. Around 12:15 a.m. today rioters were rocking cars, bashing them with "No Parking" signs that were pulled from the ground, and one car was set on fire. A red Honda was flipped over, and a group of young men stood on the roof of a parked sports utility vehicle as others bashed in all of its windows.

Dozens of officers were stationed about one block away at Ninth Street and College Avenue . They armed themselves in riot gear before using tear gas at 12:30 a.m. to break up the crowd that packed the block. The crowd was mostly young adults and many people were dressed in Halloween costumes.

"This is my first riot!" shouted Colby Kittrell who said he was visiting from Missouri .

Police patrolled the street in vehicles announcing "this is an unlawful gathering" on a loudspeaker.

Hannah Zumberge, a University of Colorado student, said she was tear gassed while checking to make sure her car wasn't damaged during the disturbance.

"All things considered, we're fine," said Zumberge, wiping her eyes from the tear gas that she said was stinging them.

She said that she suspected the riot broke out because students and party-goers on the Hill were upset that police were breaking up gatherings along the block earlier in the night.

"There were just too many kids in a small area at one time," she said.

But for the next 2 1/2 hours groups of rioters re-emerged at different intersections on the Hill, standing off against police officers. Some cursed at the officers.

Around 1:45 a.m. hundreds of people gathered along 13th Street in between College Avenue and Pleasant Street . Newspapers were set on fire, glass bottles were thrown into the streets, and rioters jumped on cars that tried to drive through the Hill business district. Newspaper boxes were bashed, kicked and thrown as officers regrouped in a nearby ally.

Police officers wearing protective masks marched up the street, drumming their nightsticks against plastic shields, and using tear gas to once again break up the crowd.

Groups of people dispersed, some appearing to be frantic. Many coughed and rubbed their eyes after being stuck in clouds of tear gas.

"It's still unfolding," Cmdr.Weiler said three hours into the riot.

CU Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ron Stump was meeting with police during the early morning hours as the riots were beginning to lessen in intensity.

Boulder Police officers were joined by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office and Longmont SWAT teams along with law enforcement officers from Louisville , Lafayette and the University of Colorado police departments.

One officer was hospitalized and others reported that rocks and glass bottles were thrown at them, Weiler said. Information on the officer's condition was not available.

People also called dispatch reporting that their eyes were burning, most likely from the pepper spray and tear gas, police said.

Police could not comment as to whether there have been any arrests made yet in connection with the riots.

Jamie Unruh, a CU sophomore, unsuccessfully tried breaking up riots and fights on the Hill. Her Honda Accord that was parked at 10th Avenue and Pleasant Street was heavily damaged. The windows and windshield were smashed and all four of her tires were slashed.

"It was just ridiculous, it was out of control," said Unruh, worrying if her insurance would cover the damage.

As the rioting settled down during the early morning hours, Kate Mickelson, 20, who lives on the Hill said: "I was just trying to defend my house the whole time."

By 4:30 a.m. all riotous behavior had stopped, police said.

Boulder 's last riot was in 2001 after the CU football team won the Big 12 Championship.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at (303) 473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.

Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.

Police on guard for more trouble on the Hill

By Brittany Anas and Aimee Heckel, Camera Staff Writers
October 31, 2004

Police arrested 18 people in connection with today’s early morning riot that ravaged University Hill and extra officers will be on standby tonight, bracing for more disturbances.

A Saturday night block party became unruly around midnight , police said, after more than 1,000 party-goers packed 10th Street between College and Pennsylvania avenues.

Swarms of rioters and 96 law enforcement officers faced off for three hours. Police then monitored the Hill until 3:15 a.m. Clocks fell back an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday morning for daylight-saving time.

Officers used tear gas and pepper spray to break up crowds, Boulder Police Cmdr. Kurt Weiler said. Pellets and stun devices also were used by police.

The city of Boulder issued a permit to Hill resident William Edward Prather allowing him to hold a block party from noon Saturday until 2 a.m. today. Prather is listed in the University of Colorado directory as a senior finance major. He could not be reached for comment.

Officers ticketed "several" students at the block party around 10 p.m. for underage drinking offenses, police spokeswoman Julie Brooks said. Many young people became angry with police for breaking up parties on the block, and swarms of partygoers, some dressed in Halloween costumes packed the streets, Brooks said.

Around 12:15 a.m. crowds packed the block and a group was rocking cars, bashing them with "No Parking" signs that were pulled from the ground, and set one car on fire. Police moved in around 12:30 a.m. , using tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Boulder police officers were assisted by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Longmont SWAT teams, along with law enforcement officers from Louisville , Lafayette and the CU police departments.

There will be 32 officers patrolling the Hill tonight, Brooks said, and 15 SWAT officers are on call.

Four officers were injured during the riots, Brooks said. She could not comment specifically on their conditions, but said the injuries were not "serious."

Officials would not say today whether those arrested were CU students. The arrests made were on riot-related charges, which include inciting a riot, engaging in a riot, criminal mischief, obstruction and arson.

Brooks said authorities caught the event on video and will review it this week to try to identify more people suspected of rioting charges. Identifying rioters will likely be a complicated task because some people were costumed.

According to a Colorado law that took effect in June 2002, college students convicted of rioting offenses will be prohibited from attending any state-supported college or university for one year.

"We are extremely disturbed by the riotous behavior of students and others on the Hill area in the early morning of Oct. 31," Vice Chancellor Ron Stump said in a press release issued today. "Halloween celebrations are no excuse for endangering the health, safety and property of others."

Stump met with police officers, stationed at Ninth Street and College Avenue , before dawn.

City officials did not have a damage estimate available today. Trash and debris from the riots was cleaned up on the Hill by 10 a.m.

"We haven’t had an incident like this for nearly three years," Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin said today. "It’s unfortunate. We will be taking a look at what happened and what we can learn from it."

The riot was the first since December 2001 when crowds stormed the Hill area after the CU Buffaloes football team won the Big 12 Championship.

Camera Staff Writer Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at (303) 473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com or contact Camera Staff Writer Aimee Heckel at (303) 473-1359 or heckela@dailycamera.com.

Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.

Article Published: Monday, November 01, 2004

Snow, cops keep area quiet after riot

By Abigail Chin and Felisa Cardona
Denver Post Staff Writers

Post / Andy Cross

Boulder - University Hill was quiet Sunday night. Few people were home, and even fewer were out on the snowy streets.

All the overturned cars had been removed, and police cars patrolled slowly up and down the streets of the neighborhood where a riot erupted Saturday night when officers tried to break up a city-approved Halloween block party.

CU senior Tim Waggener, 21, said that he and his friends were going to "take it easy" Sunday night. He lives at 1130 10th St. , right in the middle of the block where the riots occurred earlier.

"I can't imagine at all that anyone is even thinking about going out and rioting tonight oany time in the near future," Waggener said.

Police had promised to saturate the University Hill area on Sunday night to keep the peace a day after a riot broke out in the neighborhood.

"We want to make sure that this does not happen again," said Boulder police spokeswoman Julie Brooks.

Officers on patrol were not suited up in riot gear but were prepared to take on any confrontations, such as Saturday night's melee, she said. Boulder police were fully staffed with 32 officers, and a SWAT team was on stand-by.

Other law enforcement agencies were not asked to assist, but CU campus police said they were ready to get involved, if needed.

"Everyone is coming in tonight to keep an eye out," said Lt. Michell Irving of CU's police department.

And as the clock neared midnight , the streets remained quiet.

Hill retailers' fear fallout from riot

By Alicia Wallace, Camera Business Writer
November 1, 2004

At 6:30 a.m. Sunday, the University Hill business district was quiet, except for the roar of street sweepers along 13th Street .

Trash and broken bottles filled the streets. Newspaper bins were turned over on the sidewalks. The crisp morning air had a slight smell of smoke from the early-morning activities.

At the University Hill Market and Deli, owner Bobby Wahdan said his business remained open during the mayhem.

"It was really intense out there," he said.

Wahdan said he was grateful that his shop was not damaged.

"It only takes just a few kids that can get everybody else going along," he said. "(The Hill)'s already got a bad reputation. It's really not that bad up here."

By 10:30 a.m. , it appeared to be business as usual on the Hill. While the streets and sidewalks were clean, and the newspaper bins stood upright, the Colorado Book Store and the Onion office bore broken windows — scars of what

had happened hours earlier.

Gary Swartz, assistant manager at the Colorado Book Store, said when he arrived at 10 a .m. , he saw two of the store's glass doors had been hit by bricks.

With signs directing customers to the building's south door, a lone brick sat in front of the east doors.

"I didn't know about (the riots) until I got here," he said.

But for other members of the business community, the riots gave a bloody nose to the Hill's already bruised face.

"God, I feel like we go 10 steps forward and then go back 100 steps. ... It's kind of frustrating," said Karen Abrams-Harbour, a University Hill General Improvement District member.

Despite a $49,000 city-commissioned economic impact plan to improve sales for the district, the Hill has gained attention during the past two months after the alcohol-poisoning death of a fraternity member. Liquor licenses have been contested and letters have been sent to city officials and the University of Colorado both for and against alcohol-serving establishments on the Hill.

"Again, it had nothing to do with businesses on the Hill, it was house parties," Abrams-Harbour said. "If those kids could have partied somewhere where they had some kind of sober people in control, I don't think it would have gotten to that point."

She said she was disappointed that the city would approve a block-party permit for a group of houses that have mainly student residents.

However, David Miller, a member of the University Hill Neighbors Association's executive committee, said a riot was inevitable.

"We were going to have a riot this year, whether there was a permit issue or not," Miller said. "The riot did not take place after the CSU football game because it was raining. It did take place last night because out of control parties were allowed to merge together and form a mob."

Miller said limiting block party permits would not solve the problem.

"It was a stupid thing for the city to (issue Saturday's block party permit), but in terms of a cause ... I think you need to change the culture at the city regarding how codes are enforced and how law enforcement resources are deployed," he said.

He said the association tried to contact City Manager Frank Bruno in having him attend a public meeting, but the group has not heard a response. The neighbor group will possibly make some proposals to the city in terms of code enforcement.

"I think that part of the problem or part of the cause of the rioting is the alcohol and partying culture, and I think the business district needs to be careful about how they're contributing to that culture."

Abrams-Harbour said she is concerned that the business district will be unfairly blamed for the riots.

"The businesses are going to hurt on the Hill, but it wasn't the businesses' fault," she said, "but the businesses are going to get reprimanded, and it's going to give the Hill, again, a bad name, a bad reputation. We've been trying so hard, for so long now, to build back up the reputation."

Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at (303) 473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.

Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.

Boulder defends riot response

Some say police overreacted with rubber pellets, gas

Patrick Kelley
A rioter smashes a newspaper box on the ground in front of the Fox Theatre on Sunday.

By Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writer
November 2, 2004

Boulder Police Department officials on Monday defended their response to a city-sanctioned Halloween block party on University Hill that turned into a riot resulting in more than $20,000 in damage and 18 arrests.

About 1,500 revelers filled 10th Street between College and Pennsylvania avenues around midnight Saturday. Nearly 100 police from six departments responded — most in riot gear — to disperse the crowd using stun guns, pepper spray balls and canisters of tear gas and rubber pellets.

Police said officers first showed up at the block party around 9 p.m. , learned organizers had a city permit and warned them to move the action inside. They returned about an hour later because of complaints of noise and underage drinking, but left again despite having bottles and rocks thrown in their direction.

Then, officers reported a car being overturned and set on fire, which warranted a ramped-up police response, said Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner.

"How do you overreact to people turning over a car and setting it on fire?," Beckner said. "An explosion in a crowd like that would have been multiple injuries and fatalities."

Rick Disberger, a 36-year-old Boulder businessman, had no idea what was going on outside as he watched a show by The Motet at the Fox Theatre on the Hill.

When he left at 2:15 a.m. , he said he was told to use the back door but was immediately approached by an officer telling him to get out of the alley. As he walked away, he felt a sting from a stun gun on his buttocks.

"I guess I wasn't moving fast enough," Disberger said. "It didn't knock me off my feet, but it hurt."

Because police had shut down several streets, Disberger said he and his friends took a detour route to their car and had to walk through clouds of choking tear gas.

"It was definitely way over the top," he said

Lacy Taylor, a CU alumna visiting over the weekend from Texas , said she was appalled when she saw eight police officers "gun down" a student running away on the street. As the young man lay in a fetal position, Taylor said, one of the officers walked up and shot him "point blank" and walked away.

"We weren't scared of the students," Taylor said. "The cops were the scary thing."

Police Chief Beckner, a veteran of 15 riots, said it's typical to get complaints from those who feel they were victimized by overly brutish officers, especially from those who think they didn't do anything wrong.

"Well, yeah, you may not have, but we can't stop and interview everyone who happens to be on the street," Beckner said. "We have to be able to take action to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, and sometimes innocent people get caught up in that.

"Our officers are innocent too, and they get hit with rocks and bottles. It happens."

Four police officers suffered minor injuries during the riot. Police said no other injuries were reported except for one assault victim.

But at least one man, who asked to remain anonymous and said he was not involved in the riot, said he was seriously injured when a foreign object hit his eye. He said it came from the direction of police.

Ten of the 18 people hauled off to jail were CU-Boulder students. Charges ranged from obstructing an officer — a misdemeanor punishable by three to 12 months in jail and fines up to $1,000 — to fourth-degree arson, a felony punishable by two to six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Many of the suspects were in court Monday.

One student, Christopher Frantz, 21,19, also say his arrest was unjust.

Police said Johnson threw rocks at them and hit another reveler with a bottle. But Johnson's father, David Johnson, said his son was sober and went to police for help after a group of students jumped his friend.

"He had nothing to do with it," David Johnson said. "There are 2,000 kids up there, and it just so happens they arrest the black kid."

Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.

Alleged rioters face probe

Students say melee another blemish for 'party school'

By Elizabeth Mattern Clark, Camera Staff Writer
November 2, 2004

University of Colorado officials said Monday that they will call on 10 students accused of rioting to appear before the school's judicial affairs committee and that bystanders could be investigated as well.

A criminal conviction on rioting charges could keep students out of all Colorado public colleges for a year, based on a 2002 state law. The school will do its own investigation too, CU spokeswoman Pauline Hale said.

The judicial affairs board could suspend, expel or otherwise sanction students who participated in the weekend riot and could punish spectators who failed to disperse under police orders.

Ten of the 18 adults arrested at the off-campus melee early Sunday are students at CU's Boulder campus. The university will draft letters to those students today referring them to the judicial process, said Vice Chancellor Ron Stump.

Riot 'disgraceful,' 'funny'

Some students said the riot has even further deteriorated the academic reputation of a university culture already viewed as steeped in booze.

CU last year ranked as the Princeton Review's top party school, and in the past year has been the site of an alcohol-related football-sex scandal and an alcohol-poisoning death.

"This school's getting a bad rap," said junior Matt Wilcox. Senior Geoffrey Minckler called the melee "disgraceful."

Still, many students said police overreacted or even provoked the pre-Halloween fracas involving drunken throngs of revelers, and that violence was bound to erupt in the street when police broke up a city-permitted block party in the houses of University Hill.

Police used tear gas and pepper spray in attempts to disperse the unruly crowd, estimated at 1,500.

"I couldn't believe they were gassing people," said freshman James Wynn. "I was thinking, is this actually happening? It seemed a little extreme."

Others said rioting has become something of a "rite of passage" at CU and might have happened regardless of the circumstances. Josh Levine, a junior, said he thought last weekend's melee was "funny."

'Rite of passage?'

University Hill has a history of couch-burning, bottle-throwing and car-tilting riots, though the most recent incidents were after CU won the Big 12 championship in December 2001. Boulder police broke up seven other riots between 1997 and 2000.

Senior Matt Jenkins, who watched one of the 2001 riots break out in front of his house, said "probably most students who come here have experienced a riot and come to expect it or consider it a rite of passage."

Levana Geist, a freshman, said students are fulfilling the expectation of a school with a "party history."

"I think it's coming to the point that people are expecting this of CU students," she said.

Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.

Boulder Officer Reprimanded In Halloween Riot Probe

CU Student Shot In Eye With Pepper Ball

POSTED: 9:00 am MDT June 17, 2005

BOULDER, Colo. -- Boulder police officials have refused to identify an officer who was reprimanded after shooting a University of Colorado student in the eye with a pepper ball during last year's Halloween riot.

The department's investigation into the riot on University Hill and the police response to it was completed Thursday. The investigation looked at 16 complaints against Boulder police officers during the riot.

Police said at least 1,500 people were involved in a riot in Boulder that did an estimated $18,000 in damage.

A 22-year-old CU senior said he was forced onto the lawn when his home was filled with pepper spray fumes during the disturbance. Jonathan Lemery said he was hit in the eye while on the lawn.

The officer who admitted firing the shot had a permanent letter of reprimand placed in his employment file.

Lemery says he still suffers from vision problems as a result of being shot in the right eye.

The Halloween melee broke out during a block party on the Hill. The city permit was for 150 people, but the party quickly grew out of control as cars were turned over and fires started.

Nearly 100 law enforcement officers from six departments were called out to disperse the crowd estimated at 1,500 people. They used tear gas, pepper spray balls and rubber pellets.

Damage from the riot totaled more than $18,000 and resulted in 18 arrests. Charges included inciting a riot, engaging in a riot, criminal mischief, obstruction and arson.