Eugene police officers arrested eight people — including five University of Oregon students — early Sunday morning after responding to a noise complaint on East 18th Avenue between High and Mill Streets.
Around 12:22 a.m., the Eugene Police Department — with the aid of an Oregon Liquor Control Commission officer — arrived at the apartment to find people running from the house and jumping from the second story balcony; the door, too, was barricaded from the inside. After repeated attempts to peaceably enter the premises, police received a telephonic search warrant to enter at 1:55 a.m., almost an hour and a half after arriving on the scene.
After ramming the door and entering the residence, police found over 30 people packed into the two bedroom apartment and arrested the three residents — two of which are UO students as well as brothers.
Twenty-five people at the party were cited for being minors in possession of alcohol, and another two cited for possessing small amounts of marijuana. The police reported some of the party goers said they were trapped inside the apartment against their will — leading to counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, prohibited noise and felony coercion for all three residents.
Among the detained were three additional UO students. All were taken to jail once police cleared the apartment.
Eugene Police Lt. Doug Mozan said when police deal with situations where people are not cooperating, it ends badly for everyone.
“When police officers are dealing with one party, a typical response takes two to four officers, depending on the number of people,” Mozan said. “When people run, when people resist … two to four turns into 20, and these officers come from every corner of the city.”
Mozan said this party is an example of circumstances under which the Social Host Ordinance could be cited in the future because of the enormous strain it puts on EPD’s resources.
“If it takes 20 police officers or so,” he said, “that’s when Social Host Ordinance can kick in because of the time and resources being taken away from other areas of the city.”
EPD will continue to train its officers and educate residents on Social Host Ordinance until April 1, when police are authorized to start citing it.