Patriots Fans Run Up Arrest Reports Like Team Ran Up Points on Monday vs. Jets

by Andy Kent

Filed under: Jets, Patriots, AFC East

One bad thing about a blowout game at home -- win or lose -- is the amount of extra time it gives the fans to get loaded, and I don't mean on food.

Police and Gillette Stadium security had their hands full Monday night during and after the New England Patriots' 45-3 whipping of the New York Jets as the cold temperatures, lopsided score and the fact that the opponent was a hated rival all added up to a recipe for disaster. When it was all said and done, 117 people were taken into custody and 102 of them for public intoxication.

"That's the most for a football game in a long, long time," said Foxboro Police Chief Edward O'Leary, who is also in charge of police security in the stadium. "We have not had over 100 custodies for a game since I've been chief in 1985."

Probably the chief cause of the number of intoxicated people and the severity of their drunkenness was the choice of beverage, which apparently was not the traditional beer found during tailgating parties. O'Leary said the type of bottles scattered in the parking lots after the game indicated that many fans arriving in the frigid temperatures were drinking hard liquor while tailgating.

"That's a quicker hit (than beer) and changes people's behavior," he said.

Almost half of those taken into protective custody, O'Leary said, were picked up during screening as they tried to enter the stadium in a drunken state.

 

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