Aug 22 UPDATE: diehard jerkweeds mob Fort Collins
last night's
Earth, Wind & Fire riots
Fort Collins SWAT use tear gas after show's melee last nightFort Collins’
Old Town district erupted with rioting early Sunday morning as Fort Collins police responded to three separate disturbances in the area involving large crowds of people, according to a press release. This is 3 blocks from my place, where I live.
The release, from Fort Collins Police Services, said the crowd assembled at the intersection of Mountain and College Avenues, throwing “beer bottles, patio furniture and other objects at police, damaged cars, stole items from New West Fest vendor tents, and set trash cans on fire.”
Hugo Caballero, 18, and Taylor Lods, 18, of Fort Collins said they saw police cruisers and SWAT vehicles rushing down College Avenue toward Old Town around 1:30 a.m. Both said they had been tear gassed by police near Old Town Square after following police.
“Next thing we know cops were running at us with paintball guns,” Lods said. According to both Lods and Caballero, along with others at the scene, police had used paintballs filled with mace on the overwhelming crowd.
One bystander on the scene ran off a slew of obscenities at officers, saying he’d been “shot and maced” with the paintballs.
According to the release, several people were injured during the fights; two people who were thrown through a window were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Officials at Poudre Valley Hospital confirmed that several people were taken to the hospital with injuries resulting from the riot.
A window at Santa Fe Craftsman, 118 N. College Ave., was boarded up this morning, hours after two people were thrown through the window during disturbances following Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest.
Earl Scruggs was not available for comments about tonight's upcoming show. In a press release, he said that his banjo had been hardened to survive thrown beer bottles and tossed joints.
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