BROOKINGS – Brookings Police reported 356 calls for service over Hobo Day weekend, which is up from 2018 and is hundreds more calls than officers deal with on a regular weekend, Assistant Chief Derrick Powers said.
“During the same time frame, Hobo Day 2018, we had 302 calls for service,” Powers said.
Those 356 calls came in from 4 p.m. Friday through noon Sunday, Powers said, a span of less than 48 hours.
He pointed out the difference between a normal weekend and Hobo Day weekend.
“To compare that for the same time frame last weekend, we had 148 calls for service,” he said.
The Brookings Police dealt with a wide variety of calls, from those alcohol-related to aggravated assault, he said.
Calls for service come into the Brookings 911 Communication Center and include incidents in the city limits, and those out in the county and on Interstate 29 for the Brookings Police, Brookings County Sheriff’s Office and state Highway Patrol, Powers said.
Calls for service can be related to anything, including a traffic stop, house party, ambulance call, theft, intentional damage, animal complaints, suspicious activity and fights, he said.
Hobo Day weekend is one for which local law enforcement gears up, he said.
“We understand that this is going to be a busy weekend, so we staff for that and prepare for it. We are proactive in some areas, but we have to be reactive in other areas,” Powers said.
Their focus is on not letting small incidents because bigger problems, he said.
“We do use some discretion on this weekend, but certainly look for those issues that may be a problem … and we take action on those cases,” Powers said.
“It kept our officers busy, the weekend did,” he noted.
Alcohol calls
There were five DUI arrests by the Brookings Police and 13 underage consumption tickets.
“Certainly, a number of warnings were given in addition to that,” Powers said.
There were nine open container tickets issued.
“We had a couple reports of incidents of intoxicated individuals attempting to get into residences where they didn’t belong. (Both) the individuals were arrested for criminal trespass,” Powers said.
“And again, alcohol played a factor in this, each of those incidents,” he said.
Intentional damage
There were three BPD reports of intentional damage to vehicles and one report of intentional damage to a business.
“In one instance, a suspect was identified and arrested for intentional damage,” Powers said.
“A Polaris Ranger was stolen from the 22nd Avenue construction site. It was actually recovered on the SDSU campus by the University Police Department … That was recovered prior to it being reported stolen,” Powers said, adding the Ranger was damaged and the theft remains under investigation.
Fights
There were several reports of fights. The officers disbursed some when they arrived.
Others were more serious, resulting in charges.
A male was arrested for disorderly conduct for a fight in the street in the 300 block of Main Avenue.
“In a second incident, there was a report of a fight in an establishment in the 300 block of Main Avenue where a female was hit in the head with a chair. Brookings Ambulance did respond as she had an injury to her head,” Powers said, adding the ambulance crew treated her on the scene.
“She actually went to the ER for further treatment by personal vehicle,” Powers said.
The suspect in this incident remains unidentified, he added in an email.
In another incident, a male suspect was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction, he added.
Noise/parties
“We received approximately 15 noise or house party complaints,” Powers said.
In addition to that, officers self-initiated contact and tried to disburse others “that they observed at large gatherings of individuals congregating outside and basically spilling out onto the sidewalk in front of residences,” Powers said.
“We did issue two residents disturbing the peace tickets,” he added.
Some calls for parties were requests for help.
“There were a couple occasions where the renters themselves called us because the party had gotten out of hand and more people showed up than they expected and so they requested our assistance to help clean out the residences,” Powers said.
Some didn’t want the party to end.
“As one female renter was attempting to get people to leave, clear out the residence, she was assaulted by another female party-goer. This female party-goer, according to the victim, grabbed her by the neck and pushed her up against the wall. This female suspect was later located and arrested for aggravated assault,” Powers said.
Indecent exposure
There was a report of an indent exposure and a person was arrested, Powers said.
“We were called to a local hotel, after guests staying there observed an individual in his room involved in a lewd act, exposed himself,” Powers said, adding “This was observed by guests in the pool area.”
The person was identified and arrested for indecent exposure and transported to the Brookings County Detention Center.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
