Officer hurt at tailgate

An IU Police Department officer was struck on the back of the head with a beer bottle Saturday as he tried to break up a fight after the Old Oaken Bucket football game.\nIUPD officer Brian Oliger was trying to arrest one of the men involved in the fight when another unidentified man smashed a bottle against the base of his skull, leaving a one-inch gash.\nOliger was transported to Bloomington Hospital to receive treatment for his wound, which required staples.\nPolice said Oliger was released and worked his normal Saturday night shift. Police have not found the man witnesses say struck Oliger.\nThe conflict occurred soon after IU's 24-16 loss to Purdue in a parking lot south of Memorial Stadium. This was the only time this year that an IUPD officer was injured at a football game, police said.\nOliger, the department's bike patrol coordinator, was near 17th Street and Woodlawn Avenue when he saw a fight between two men, IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said. Oliger broke up the fight, wrestled one subject to the ground, and while about 100 tailgaters hovered around, one man rushed forward out of the crowd and hit him with the bottle then fled.\nWitnesses said all they saw was a yellow T-shirt and red hair, Minger said.\nMinger said he was about 100 yards away when he saw spectators crossing 17th Street point toward the fight. Minger came to Oliger's aid and grabbed a bike and began to use it to push the crowds back.\nMinger's call for help drew 67 police officers from all the involved agencies to the area.\n"The crowd was a little intoxicated and a little belligerent," Minger said. "It made a critical situation, with an injured officer worse."\nIUPD officer Dave Heckman and Lt. Greg Butler fired pepper spray canisters into the crowd, while several six-officer teams began breaking up the crowd, Minger said.\nWith the exception of the rare incident of violence Saturday, Minger said the alcohol problems police encountered were less than normal. IUPD officers wrote fewer than 10 citations for illegal consumption, he said.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said he didn't have enough information to put the incident into context, but thinks it is negative for the campus.\n"It's an unfortunate incident and no officer should be subjected to that sort of treatment," he said. "I hope the police are successful in finding the man who did this, and certainly if it was a student, I think the University will take severe action."\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.