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Dave Matthews Riot Costs Tallied At $26,000
The city of Hartford spent an estimated $26,000 for police overtime and crowd control to quell melees following two recent Dave Matthews Band concerts at the Meadows Music Theatre. City officials are trying to determine if there's a way to bill part of the charges to the venue.
The cost breakdown included $19,000 in overtime pay to police officers and about $7,500 to replace rubber bullets, beanbag rounds and chemical spray used against the crowds, according to a Hartford Courant report. Though there were no reports of violence inside the venue, rioting erupted on Aug. 7 and 8 at a parking lot adjacent to the amphitheater.
According to police and witnesses quoted in the Courant, the violence mushroomed among a crowd that had gathered among tailgaters without tickets to the sold-out show. As members of the crowd grew increasingly inebriated with a mixture of alcohol and nitrous oxide, bonfires fueled by abandoned furniture other debris were lit. The crowd then overturned two cars (later setting them aflame) and began a rampage of vandalism on other vehicles in the area. A similar scene materialized the following night.
In all, more then 50 people were arrested and dozens were reportedly injured. Most injuries reportedly came from broken beer bottles thrown during the melee or by falling on the shattered glass that covered parts of the parking lot. Others suffered minor injuries after getting hit by rubber bullets and beanbag rounds fired into the crowd by police.
As a result of the problems, the venue has a adopted a new rule that restricts parking in the lots surrounding the amphitheater to ticket-holders.
