Eugene Police arrested two students and issued 11 citations after officers responded to a noise complaint at a house at 1776 Mill Street around 11:00 p.m. on Monday. The party, which had approximately 100 people in attendance when the police arrived, is the first to be cited under the new Social Host Ordinance.
“The police don’t go to parties unless there was a noise complaint,” said Paula Hunt, Eugene Police public information officer. “For this party, there were multiple complaints coming from neighbors.”
The students were celebrating the “pinning” of a sorority member and fraternity member, in which a fraternity member gives his chapter pin to the sorority member he is dating to represent his feelings for her.
Of the 11 citations, seven were for an unruly gathering — the first implementation of the Social Host Ordinance (PDF) — which went into effect March 2 with police allowed to cite the ordinance as of April 1.
Police also found an unconscious male under the age of 21 who was rushed to a local hospital to be treated for alcohol poisoning. According to EPD West University Station manager, Kelly Putnam, he was still unconscious at 5:25 a.m.
“We weren’t concerned as much with the people who were running away,” Putnam said “The most important thing was to make sure that no one was severely intoxicated. So our first concern was to make sure to help whoever was unconscious and needed to go to the hospital.”
The ordinance — passed by the city council in late January — holds residents “criminally responsible for hosting, organizing and allowing an unruly event or social gathering.” Property owners where the event is hosted can also be penalized after multiple violations at the same address. The ordinance applies unilaterally through the city, not just to the West University district. It also allows the city to fine those charged under the new law up to $1,000, depending on police response costs.
According to a resident of the house who asked not to be identified, each resident was fined $700 — $350 for the noise complaint and $350 for the unruly gathering.
“Every resident there (was fined), including the guy who just biked in from the bar while the cops were at our house — he wasn’t there, (but) he got the fine,” he said. “I was fast asleep in my room. They (the police) came and shined their lights through my window, I got the fine.”
ASUO Sen. Lamar Wise launched a campaign in attempt to repeal the ordinance. He believes the fines associated with the law don’t help solve the problem of unruly gatherings, but rather targets a group already feeling financial pressure.
“Even if the fines are only $250-500, that could still be detrimental to student,” Wise said. “That could be their food for the week, their books, their tuition … We should not be accepting the premise that there is high fines for unruly gatherings.”
The resident of the house agrees with Wise: “$700 is more than my rent. It’s more than I make in probably two months at my job. I have no clue how I’m going to pay that.”
Here are the breakdown of police citations:
Scott Andrew Terrel, 21, UO Student: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume, Prohibited Noise
Michael King Rengel, 23, UO Student: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume, Resisting Arrest
Ian Thomas Holmes, 22: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume
Jordan Joseph Cramer, 22: UO Student: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume
Michael Lester Dehaan, 22, UO Student: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume
Houman Mirtorabi, 22, UO Student: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume
Dylan Wyatt Melcher-Branch, 22, UO Student: Unruly Gathering, Allowing Minors to Consume