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300 out-of-control partiers in Canton stop traffic; police take an hour to disperse crowd

Posted 9/23/14

By MATT LINDSEY CANTON – A house party attended by around 300 people spilled into the streets as law enforcement struggled to control the crowd, according to an incident report from the Canton …

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300 out-of-control partiers in Canton stop traffic; police take an hour to disperse crowd

Posted

By MATT LINDSEY

CANTON – A house party attended by around 300 people spilled into the streets as law enforcement struggled to control the crowd, according to an incident report from the Canton Police Department.

In the report, Canton police said they responded at the request of the Sheriff’s Office to 1938 Old DeKalb Rd. just after midnight Sunday morning following a complaint of about 100 people partying and being disorderly.

Police reportedly broke up a party inside the house which led to around 300 individuals loitering on Old DeKalb Road. Police were able to move the crowd from the Old DeKalb road only to have them gather at the intersection of Old DeKalb Road and West Main Street, according to the report.

“There is no sidewalk on Old DeKalb Road. Drivers parked in the lot of the USDA building next door. The house is small, 1144 sq. ft. total…the fact that 300 people were in this space was absurd and dangerous” according to a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns.

The crowd then stood in the middle of road causing traffic come to a standstill in both directions, the police report said.

“The mass of students proceeded to Main Street, where they shut down traffic, continuously yelled vulgarities at law officers, and terrorized Canton in a march through the village,” the neighbor said.

Attempts by police to control the crowd were unsuccessful as the group continued to loiter on West Main Street while police drove down the street using their horns and told individuals to get off the street. Police were reportedly met by comments such as “suck my ass,” according to a police report.

“I spoke to officers on the SUNY Canton campus and at the village station. Campus police were not willing to release a report. As far as I know now, no arrests were made, including the three college students renting 1938 Old DeKalb Road,” the neighbor said.

Canton police said they had trouble dispersing the crowd even with the assistance of two SUNY Canton police vehicles and one St. Lawrence University police car.

The incident continued all the way down West Main Street onto Riverside Drive and into the Liberty Apartments, police said.

The crowd was so large that it prevented police from performing any other action to stop the behavior safely, police said.

The group of partiers eventually entered onto the footbridges back to SUNY Canton after about an hour, officers said.

No arrests were reported.