Police make 41 arrests, 63 charges Saturday night
On the night of the biggest win of the South Carolina Gamecocks’ season so far, the thousands of fans who streamed from Williams-Brice Stadium into Five Points largely behaved themselves.
Forty-one people were arrested in the packed Columbia bar district Saturday night, the Columbia Police Department announced in a release Sunday afternoon.
That’s a nearly 20-percent rise from the week before, but this weekend was indisputably higher-profile.
ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast from the Horseshoe in the morning in the heart of USC’s campus, drawing thousands of sign-bearing students and others vying for their moment on national television. That night, an announced attendance of 85,199 of locals and out-of-towners from Athens, Ga., packed the stadium for the matchup between the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the sixth-ranked Gamecocks.
Columbia police, in the wake of criticism over a string of violent crimes and a shooting in the district, had anticipated the crowds and ramped up their presence downtown and spent more than $11,800 in overtime, according to Assistant Chief Leslie Wiser.
The police downtown were very visible. They stood attentively at nearly every corner, nabbing passers-by with drinks in their hands and directing loiterers to keep moving along the clustered sidewalks. They were augmented by an observation tower, DUI checkpoints and several other agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Richland County Police; USC police; South Carolina Highway Patrol; and military police from Fort Jackson, who assisted in maintaining the peace.
Police and fire officials also cleared several bars which had surpassed their occupancy rates, putting a damper on the night for those establishments. But that seemed to merely redirect the bars’ patrons.
Police racked up 63 charges for a variety of offenses. Among them: third-degree assault and illegal gun possession, resisting arrest, underage alcohol possession, open container, fake ID, urinating in public, and providing false information to police.
Columbia police also charged one man with felony drunken driving, after his car collided with another at around 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of Millwood Avenue and Washington Street, between Gervais and Taylor Streets.
James McKibbin Green IV, 29, is suspected of not yielding to the other car, according to the release. Green’s car flipped on its side, sending him and his four passengers to the hospital. One suffered serious injuries, the release said, but the other three were treated and released. The release said the other driver is not believed to have been injured.