'Hobart Hoedown' connected to melee
By Morris Singer, Collegian Staff
May 05, 2003
Intense rioting between students and police officers broke out late Saturday night on N. Pleasant Street near Puffton Village and Hobart Lane, resulting in fires, 45 arrests and severe property damage.
At about 11:15 p.m., a large police presence which had developed along the street attempted to break up a crowd of several hundred people, many of which gathered on the west side of North Pleasant Street near Puffton Village. Thirty Amherst Police Department (APD) officers, 12 UMass police officers and four State Police officers patrolled the streets, using shields, nightsticks and pepper spray.
Of those arrested, 28 were arrested for disorderly conduct, 11 for inciting a riot, 4 for having open containers of alcohol, 1 for driving under the influence of alcohol and 1 for assault and battery on a police officer.
The riots were connected to a large party of between 1,000 and 1,500 college-aged people that the police dispersed at about 4 p.m. According to the APD several arrests were made, but most of the people at the party followed the officers' orders. Students said that crowds began to form later in the evening in response to the arrests.
Many students protesting police action threw glass bottles, rocks and lawn chairs at the officers, injuring 15 of them. The police countered with clubs and pepper spray. The incident remained a constant struggle between the police and the rioters for three hours with the police moving up and down the street several times.
The police used pepper spray on those on the street and sidewalks. People ran to take cover behind houses and in the bushes.
"Spray the f---ers," commanded one police officer, referring to a small group of people who would not back up after repeated requests.
The police charged at people in the street on numerous occasions. Some were thrown on the ground, others pushed and beaten with clubs. Some of those whom the police pushed to the were sprayed in the face with pepper spray and could not see well enough to move without the help of friends.
During one such incident, some students fled to 107 Puffton Village Drive to avoid police action. Those remaining outside of the apartment were sprayed with pepper spray by officers.
According to Eric Hamlin, who was in the apartment at the time, police took advantage of a brief moment when the front door was open to use pepper spray on those inside the apartment. Several left the building saying they felt the air outside the house was less harsh than the air inside.
Pablo Roskell, a junior management major who was in the house, said that the police caused the violence. He said that before the police showed up, the parties were peaceful.
"Everything was cool until the riot police came," he said. "The riot started when the riot police showed up."
A few police vehicles were damaged by the rioters who threw projectiles. Large stones smashed cruiser windows and dented the sides of the cars. A number of people who drove past the area on North Pleasant Street had their cars severely vandalized as well.
As forces patrolled the street, they frequently ran after people with their nightsticks. At times they shouted threats at the crowds of people.
"The beatings are going to start," yelled one officer. "You're next gentlemen."
A police officer wearing a helmet with the number 66 yelled at a man who was walking up the street toward UMass. The man said that he was struck across the left shoulder with a nightstick.
"I'm going to f---ing smash you," the officer shouted at him as he attempted to walk away.
Many people said they were trapped in the middle of the violence, with the police actually preventing them from leaving.
"Honestly, how are we supposed to leave?" asked Melissa Harkavy, a junior sports management major. "When we do leave, they [the police] harass us."
An officer wearing a helmet with the number 28 on it stopped one woman, who appeared to be going inside a house. He lunged at her feet, bringing her to the ground. Within minutes she was arrested and taken away, all the while shouting her innocence.
A man nearby was also taken away while attempting to protest his arrest.
"I didn't do anything, sir," he said repeatedly.
His plea was ineffective.
APD reported that an unidentified college-aged male sustained a stab wound to his arm while the disturbance took place, although they said they are unsure if it is related. The matter is under investigation.
Dana Sanford, a senior political science major, was hit in the back of the head with an aluminum baseball bat during the riot, according to friends carrying him from the scene. He was brought to 1057 N. Pleasant St., where he remained until an ambulance arrived. Sanford's friends moved him to the house shortly after 12 a.m. and were protected by a police officer in the middle of the street, who put his club away after seeing the severity of the injury.
Puffton Village endured heavy property damage. The crowd set many small fires and also flipped over a car. A bus stop burned to the ground.
Keith Hoyle, chief of the Amherst Fire Department (AFD), said that around 12:30 a.m., AFD received a call that a large pine tree was on fire at the entrance to Puffton. Rioters used a flaming couch to help build the fire.
"I received a phone call ... from one of our captains on duty advising me that things were getting out of hand," Hoyle said.
According to Hoyle, the AFD prepared for potential problems with bringing their trucks onto the scene by placing them into a designated staging area nearby. It only took a minute to respond to the flaming pine, Hoyle said. The fire was put out within the next few minutes by five firefighters.
Hoyle said the fire department had trouble moving away from N. Pleasant Street to respond to other fires because of people in the street.
"We couldn't really get off of N. Pleasant Street at all," he said. "We had one firefighter hit by a bottle."
Hoyle said the fire department responded to numerous emergencies Saturday night, both for fire and medical reasons. More than half of them were related to the riots.
Hoyle said that between 6 p.m. Saturday night and 8 a.m. Sunday morning, the AFD made 27 ambulance and fire runs.
"Seventeen of them were directly related to the Hobart Lane and Puffton situation," he said.
Shortly after 2 a.m., police had cleared the area of nearly all crowd activity and were lined across the street, allowing people to slowly return home. Smoke was still in the air, but most of the violence had stopped.