Alcohol-related incidents result in more than 200 tickets

Just a few hours after the final parties of Little 500 fizzled out early Sunday morning, the more than 200 people arrested during the weekend arrived at 8 a.m. at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to learn their punishment.

Every year the sheriff’s office opens on the Sunday of Little 500 weekend for the sole purpose of processing the couple hundred people who receive low-level misdemeanors Thursday through Sunday night.

This is the only day of the year the office is open on a weekend.

The process everyone goes through is called the pretrial diversion program. It requires a defendant to complete a specific set of requirements. Upon completion of the program, the charges are dismissed.

“It’s part of the standard Little 500 requirements,” Monroe County Prosecutor Chris Gaal said. “We’re able to get it all done in one day.”

Gaal said it is important to process everything the same weekend because so many of the people arrested are visiting from out of town. 

Misdemeanors included in the PDP are public intoxication, underage drinking and underage possession of alcohol.

DUIs are not a part of this program, so anyone who received one over the weekend is required to go through the normal court process.  

Most of those who were charged must go through Alcohol Education School, which is a four-hour class offered several times this week. They must also participate in a roadside clean-up, which took place Sunday afternoon, and pay a standard $423 fine to cover court costs, Gaal said.

“I feel like it’s kind of a big joke,” IU freshman Cody Lutes said. “It’s just a way for them to make a lot of money.”

Lutes said he was charged with underage possession of alcohol for holding an unopened bottle of beer near the Varsity Villas on Thursday night.

“It’s not really cool,” said Clarence Patton, a freshman at Ivy Tech Community College. “They were just being petty about it since it’s Little Five weekend.”

Patton said he was charged with underage receiving and transporting alcohol at Kroger’s parking lot near College Mall.

Employees from multiple branches of the Monroe County judicial system worked overtime beginning Sunday at midnight to prepare paperwork for the people who would arrive that morning.  

“I’m really proud of my staff,” Gaal said. “This is the biggest weekend of the year for them.”

By 10:30 a.m. most cases had been processed. Some employees said there seemed to be fewer cases this year compared to last year.

Either way, Gaal said in a weekend where so much alcohol is consumed he hopes that those who were arrested can learn from their experience.