Eight students cited at Fling 'block party'

Eight students were arrested early yesterday morning when University Police attempted to clear a crowd of about 3,000 people at Sansom Street's annual Spring Fling block party and a Delta Tau Delta fraternity party, according to University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. Nearly 30 Philadelphia and University Police officers -- including University Police Chief George Clisby and Captain John Richardson -- began to break up both parties at about 1:30 a.m. The Sansom Street block party was located on Sansom Street from 39th to 40th streets, and the crowd spilled around the corner to the DTD party at 39th and Sansom streets. University Police Sergeant Tom Rambo said the arrested students were cited for crimes varying from disorderly conduct to fighting, dancing on cars and "aggressively refusing to leave the block." The eight students cited included former Undergraduate Assembly member Dan Schorr and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist Mike Nadel, sources said. Nadel refused to comment; Schorr was unavailable for comment. In addition to the arrests, Rambo said one student was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after he fell on a broken bottle and injured his leg. Rambo added that to keep the Sansom Street Block Party from getting out of control, as it had in past years, University Police made an agreement with the houses on Sansom Street to stop playing music at 1:30 a.m. and to have partygoers begin filing out. However, DTD Vice President and College sophomore Jason Brenner said the DTD party was not connected with the block party and his fraternity not have an agreement with University Police to turn off the music at a set time. Kuprevich said two of the students who were arrested and cited for disorderly conduct are claiming University Police used an unreasonable level of force. Kuprevich also said the breakup of the parties was "handled extremely professionally" and these two were the only reports of unreasonable force made to University Police. But he added he would be meeting with the two students today to discuss the incident. He also said that the clearing of the parties was part of a series of actions taken by University Police to "maintain order" throughout Fling. Since Thursday night, University Police have responded to an average of 20 disturbance calls per night and taken about six students each day to HUP for alcohol treatment, according to Kuprevich. In addition, University Police also received a large number of noise complaints from neighborhood residents. Kuprevich added that considering the number of Fling events and large number of people involved, the level of University Police intervention was "really minimal."

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