Reports of student misconduct still being processed
Saturday may have been day of celebration for the hundreds who went Irish in Five Points, but it meant a busy Monday for the Office of Student Conduct. The office was still filing student incident reports from Saturday as of Monday afternoon and will be receiving additional reports from Columbia police throughout the week, according to Director of Student Conduct Alisa Cooney.
The Columbia Police Department made 36 arrests from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the hours of the St. Pat’s in Five Points celebration, though none were directly related to the festival. These charges included public drunkenness, public disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana, possession of alcohol by a person under 21, possession of an altered ID, unlawful urination and resisting arrest, according to an email from CPD Public Information Officer Jennifer Timmons. Toxicology information regarding these arrests is still being processed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
University police also increased their presence on campus in light of Saturday’s festivities. Carolina Alert issued an email warning on Friday, reminding students to practice safe habits and not allow themselves to “become intoxicated.” The email also warned of series of recent armed robberies near campus, the latest occurring at 10:30 p.m. Thursday night.
“We already had planned on stepping up our patrol (for Saturday), but certainly with those incidences happening on campus we decided to take extra precaution,” said Capt. Eric Grabski of the USC Division of Law Enforcement.
Incidences on campus included a DUI, vandalisms and one possession of alcohol by a minor charge. Grabski confirmed that the offender for possession had been in the Five Points area before the arrest. Many other violators downtown weren’t difficult to catch.
“My friend was arrested near the gates on Harden Street because he was drunk and tried to pass his fake ID to someone,” said festival patron Austin Dark.
Other patrons observed that law enforcement was most concentrated surrounding the festival’s perimeter Saturday afternoon.
“I think cops are worse on a normal weekend in Five Points than they were on St. Pat’s,” said second-year biology student Joseph Cucinotta. “The cops kind of stayed on the outskirts.”
— Chelsea Amodio contributed to this article