Thirty-six people arrested at Riverbend this year; arrests up considerably from past years

Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / 
Guests make their way into the first night of the Riverbend Festival on Friday, June 9, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Headliners that played on the Coca-Cola Stage Friday night included The Black Jacket Symphony and Bozz Scaggs.
Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Guests make their way into the first night of the Riverbend Festival on Friday, June 9, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Headliners that played on the Coca-Cola Stage Friday night included The Black Jacket Symphony and Bozz Scaggs.

The Chattanooga Police Department has released crime statistics for this year's Riverbend Festival, and once again, underage drinking accounted for the vast majority of arrests.

Two-thirds of the 36 arrests made were for drinking underage - 12 times the number arrested for any other offense. Another six arrests also involved alcohol.

"Offenders were either consuming alcohol prior to entering the festival [their intoxication levels peaking after they entered], or they obtained the alcohol illegally through another individual who is of the legal age to purchase and consume," police spokesman Rob Simmons wrote in an email.

Also, for the second year in a row, no one was arrested on weapons charges. It was the second year attendees were allowed to legally carry handguns into the event.

Other arrests involved charges of disorderly conduct, felony vandalism and assault on police or resisting arrest.

Overall, the number of arrests was appreciably higher than in prior years. During the week of Riverbend 2016, 17 arrests were made, compared with five in 2015, 23 in 2014 and seven in 2013, according to police.

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