The Davis Police Department today released preliminary statistics showing that Picnic Day enforcement efforts resulted in 54 arrests and 207 citations Friday and Saturday.
Officers patrolling on foot, bicycle and in cars focused their attention on downtown Davis and neighborhoods that traditionally hold large house parties. The California highway Patrol and a countywide DUI enforcement team kept a lookout for drunken drivers, and California Alcohol Beverage Control agents were in town enforcing violations associated with alcohol consumption and sales, according to a Police Department news release.
Police officials in a written statement said they were not prepared to issue opinions on whether this year's Picnic Day was better or worse than last year, saying they would further analyze enforcement activities, and would seek comment from the community and other interested parties before offering conclusions.
However, they said, the department's overall perception is that there were fewer crimes of violence this year than during Picnic Day 2010. Although there was a significant amount of alcohol-driven disorder, the Davis downtown area seemed a safer place than last year, officials said.
The statistics do not include the death of UC Davis graduate and former baseball player Scott Heinig, 22, who died as a result of a head injury suffered in a fall during a private, off-campus party Saturday evening, several hours after Picnic Day ended.
Police detectives are investigating the circumstances of Heinig's fall, which occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday at a party in the 1000 block of Fifth Street. He was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in critical condition and died Sunday.
The 54 physical arrests included:
• 32 for public intoxication, two on Friday and 30 on Saturday
• Six for public intoxication in which the suspect resisted arrest
• One for felony assault/resisting arrest
• Nine for DUI, including on that involved a motorcyclist who crashed into the side of a Unitrans vehicle and suffered minor injuries
• Three for fighting, including two in which the suspects resisted arrest, resulting in additional charges
• One for cocaine possession
• One for domestic violence
• One for an outstanding arrest warrant
The 207 citations included:
• 124 for having an open container of alcohol in a public place, two on Friday and 122 on Saturday. Of those tickets, 118 were issued in the "safety enforcement zone.
• 37 for a minor in possession of alcohol, two on Friday and 35 on Saturday
• 20 for urinating in public, three on Friday and 17 on Saturday
• Four for having a open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle
• Three for furnishing alcohol to a minor
• Two for littering
• 11 for violating the city's noise ordinance, one on Friday and 10 in Saturday
• Five for marijuana possession, one on Friday and four on Saturday
• One for violating the city's public smoking ordinance
In addition, California Highway Patrol officers issued 61 tickets for various vehicle code violations and impounded nine vehicles, according to the news release.
The Davis Police Department was assisted in Picnic Day enforcement by the CHP; Yolo County Sheriff's Department; Woodland, West Sacramento, Winters, University of California and California State University police departments; the California Department of Fish and Game; and the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control.
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