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DAFN Fraternity Throws Big Bongo Party
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sheets3...@yahoo.com
Oct 17, 2000, 3:00:00 AM10/17/00
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UC Party Turns Into MeleeOverflow crowd in Berkeley riots, nearby stores
lootedHenry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, October 16, 2000 A
weekend fraternity party at the University of California at Berkeley was shut
down by campus police because of overcrowding, touching off a riot in which
revelers among a group of 2,000 people looted stores, fired shots and robbed
pedestrians along Telegraph Avenue early yesterday. Streets in the immediate
area south of campus were closed until 2 a.m. yesterday as police
photographed the damage at the Gap store, the Athlete's Foot shoe store and
Mr. Rags clothing store on Telegraph Avenue and at Tower Records on Durant
Avenue. Officers found a spent casing from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and a
``hideaway´´ holster in the streets, said Berkeley Police Sgt. Guy Craig.
About five people were arrested on suspicion of vandalism and burglary. The
chaos evoked memories of a nearly identical incident in 1992, when UC
Berkeley police closed the doors at a fraternity party filled to capacity and
moved the crowd off campus, resulting in looting that surprised city of
Berkeley police. ``It´s like the same M.O.,´´ fumed Ken Sarachan, 49, the
owner of Blondie´s Pizza and Rasputin Records, which were undamaged.
``There´s a party at UC; UC can´t handle the event, and there´s guaranteed
looting. I´m amazed that UC never seems to learn.´´ One Berkeley city officer
agreed, saying, ``The UC police created a mob running into town. It´s totally
unacceptable.´´ Berkeley police at the scene said UC Berkeley officers gave
them no prior warning about the event and that extra officers would have been
deployed had they known. The 40 city and campus officers on duty were no
match for thousands of people, Craig said. UC Berkeley Police Capt. Pat
Carroll said his officers notified their city counterparts, at least on
Saturday night. But Craig said he only learned of the situation at 9 p.m.
when one of his officers told him of a ``big party´´ on campus. ``This was a
major melee,´´ Craig said. ``There were shots fired, people robbing
pedestrians, looting and fighting. Many of these people were intoxicated.´´
Police reported no problems at the party itself, which was hosted by the
Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity at the university's Pauley Ballroom at Bancroft
Way and Telegraph Avenue. Members of the African American fraternity, who
declined to be identified, deplored the mayhem. ``The problem wasn´t the
party; it was the people outside,´´ said one fraternity member early
yesterday as he surveyed broken glass outside the Gap store, which was
littered with shirts and jeans. ``We can´t turn anyone down,´´ another
fraternity member said of the event, which was widely publicized as a ``Cal
vs. UCLA after-party.´´ UC Berkeley police tried to close the doors of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building, which houses the ballroom,
after it reached its capacity of 1,000 people. More than 1,000 other people
were still outside near Sproul Plaza. The would-be partygoers, many of them
not from UC Berkeley, began fighting with campus Police Sgt. Sara Ferrandini
as she tried to close the doors, police said. Revelers pulled fire alarms and
stole fire extinguishers from the student union and used them to break into
nearby businesses before stealing compact discs, shoes and, from Mr. Rags, 30
small scooters that they rode in the streets. ``I think it´s scary,´´
sophomore Jennifer Kremen, 19, said as officers with shotguns kept
pedestrians on Durant Avenue at bay. ``I want to know what´s going on and why
I can´t go down the street to get a burrito.´´ Xavier Sanchez, 44, manager of
the Athlete's Foot, spent hours cleaning up glass and musing over the loss of
dozens of shoes worth $125 a pair. Unlike most other stores along Telegraph,
his shoe store is not protected with a metal gate. But Sanchez was resigned
about the looting. ``I´m not surprised,´´ he said. ``This is human nature.´´
Across the street at Mr. Rags, employees cleaned up and then sprayed each
other with the purloined fire extinguishers. E-mail Henry K. Lee at
lootedHenry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, October 16, 2000 A
weekend fraternity party at the University of California at Berkeley was shut
down by campus police because of overcrowding, touching off a riot in which
revelers among a group of 2,000 people looted stores, fired shots and robbed
pedestrians along Telegraph Avenue early yesterday. Streets in the immediate
area south of campus were closed until 2 a.m. yesterday as police
photographed the damage at the Gap store, the Athlete's Foot shoe store and
Mr. Rags clothing store on Telegraph Avenue and at Tower Records on Durant
Avenue. Officers found a spent casing from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and a
``hideaway´´ holster in the streets, said Berkeley Police Sgt. Guy Craig.
About five people were arrested on suspicion of vandalism and burglary. The
chaos evoked memories of a nearly identical incident in 1992, when UC
Berkeley police closed the doors at a fraternity party filled to capacity and
moved the crowd off campus, resulting in looting that surprised city of
Berkeley police. ``It´s like the same M.O.,´´ fumed Ken Sarachan, 49, the
owner of Blondie´s Pizza and Rasputin Records, which were undamaged.
``There´s a party at UC; UC can´t handle the event, and there´s guaranteed
looting. I´m amazed that UC never seems to learn.´´ One Berkeley city officer
agreed, saying, ``The UC police created a mob running into town. It´s totally
unacceptable.´´ Berkeley police at the scene said UC Berkeley officers gave
them no prior warning about the event and that extra officers would have been
deployed had they known. The 40 city and campus officers on duty were no
match for thousands of people, Craig said. UC Berkeley Police Capt. Pat
Carroll said his officers notified their city counterparts, at least on
Saturday night. But Craig said he only learned of the situation at 9 p.m.
when one of his officers told him of a ``big party´´ on campus. ``This was a
major melee,´´ Craig said. ``There were shots fired, people robbing
pedestrians, looting and fighting. Many of these people were intoxicated.´´
Police reported no problems at the party itself, which was hosted by the
Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity at the university's Pauley Ballroom at Bancroft
Way and Telegraph Avenue. Members of the African American fraternity, who
declined to be identified, deplored the mayhem. ``The problem wasn´t the
party; it was the people outside,´´ said one fraternity member early
yesterday as he surveyed broken glass outside the Gap store, which was
littered with shirts and jeans. ``We can´t turn anyone down,´´ another
fraternity member said of the event, which was widely publicized as a ``Cal
vs. UCLA after-party.´´ UC Berkeley police tried to close the doors of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building, which houses the ballroom,
after it reached its capacity of 1,000 people. More than 1,000 other people
were still outside near Sproul Plaza. The would-be partygoers, many of them
not from UC Berkeley, began fighting with campus Police Sgt. Sara Ferrandini
as she tried to close the doors, police said. Revelers pulled fire alarms and
stole fire extinguishers from the student union and used them to break into
nearby businesses before stealing compact discs, shoes and, from Mr. Rags, 30
small scooters that they rode in the streets. ``I think it´s scary,´´
sophomore Jennifer Kremen, 19, said as officers with shotguns kept
pedestrians on Durant Avenue at bay. ``I want to know what´s going on and why
I can´t go down the street to get a burrito.´´ Xavier Sanchez, 44, manager of
the Athlete's Foot, spent hours cleaning up glass and musing over the loss of
dozens of shoes worth $125 a pair. Unlike most other stores along Telegraph,
his shoe store is not protected with a metal gate. But Sanchez was resigned
about the looting. ``I´m not surprised,´´ he said. ``This is human nature.´´
Across the street at Mr. Rags, employees cleaned up and then sprayed each
other with the purloined fire extinguishers. E-mail Henry K. Lee at
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
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