Cutters rider, coach arrested for battery hours after Little 500 win

Two members of the Cutters, the winning team of the men’s Little 500, had their victory celebration cut short just hours after taking the checkered flag Saturday afternoon.

Bloomington police officers arrested Cutters rider Sasha Land and head coach Jim Kirkham for battery around midnight Saturday after the two got into an altercation with an employee of Nick’s English Hut, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Joe Sanders said. The pair were just two of the many individuals who didn’t have the greatest college weekend, as police arrested 40 people and issued more than 200 summonses.

According to BPD reports, Land and Kirkham were asked to leave Nick’s by an employee, who began to escort Land out of the building.

Believing that the employee was assaulting Land, Kirkham jumped on the employee’s back, police said. Land then reportedly struck the employee with a pitcher, leaving a cut on his head.

During the fight, the men moved into the fire escape, where officers on foot patrol nearby saw them and arrested Land and Kirkham, Sanders said.

The two were booked into Monroe County Jail around 12:15 a.m. Sunday morning on misdemeanor charges and each posted the $500 cash bond around 2 p.m. Sunday, according to reports.

In all, the IU Police Department arrested 40 people and Indiana State Excise officers issued 202 summonses during the weekend, including 122 for illegal possession, consumption or transportation.

IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said the arrests were comparable to other weekends with big events, including other Little 500s.

“All in all, it was a pretty good weekend,” Minger said, as IUPD reported no critical incidents or major injuries.

According to an Indiana Daily Student article, IUPD arrested about the same number of people last year.

Excise officers reported that they issued almost twice as many summonses as last year during Little 500 weekend.

Thirty-one minors were charged with possessing fake IDs, 18 adults were charged with providing alcoholic beverages to minors and nine people were arrested for drug-related offenses, according to a report issued by the excise state police.

Big Red Liquors on North College Avenue was cited Saturday for selling alcohol to a minor and allowing a minor to loiter. Uncle Fester’s/Jungle Room on Kirkwood Avenue and The Upstairs Pub on Kirkwood Avenue were cited for over-occupancy and fire code violations as well.