Eighteen Arrested on LepreCon, Summonses and Calls for Service Down Since Last Year

Hoboken Police arrested 18 people on Saturday during the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations, the same as during last year's LepreCon.

The city issued 82 summonses on Saturday, according to numbers provided by City Spokesman Juan Melli. Last year, 92 summonses were issued.

The Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps went on 49 LepreCon related runs between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Saturday, said HVAC President Thomas Molta. All 70 members of the ambulance corps worked on Saturday at some point in the day, Molta said, and a total of seven ambulances — four from Hoboken and three with the help of Moonachie, Ridgefield Park and McCabe — were in service.

While he didn't have the number of calls for service after 11 p.m. yet, Molta said the total would probably be close to 60.

Last year the HVAC responded to a total of 65 calls. In 2011 — the last year with a parade — the ambulance corps responded to 139 calls.

While the event seemed about the same as last year, Molta said the revelers seemed to get a later start this time around.

"It was a later crowd," Molta said. "Last year it started early in the morning."

Last year, Molta said, things were back to normal around 8 p.m. This year, that wasn't true and the majority of the calls came in after dark.

Both police and Molta agreed that the event was easier contained than in previous years. First Street, Hudson Place and downtown Washington Street was full of green-colored, seemingly intoxicated bar goers on Saturday, while uptown and the west side of town were much quieter than in previous years.

"It was really only between the PATH and Sixth Street," Molta said. The fact that the area was concentrated meant that ambulances could respond quicker.

The majority of the calls involved intoxicated individuals who were "drop down drunk," Molta said.

The same trend was seen with the arrests on Saturday. The majority of the incidents happened in the late afternoon, evening and night, according to police reports and the Hoboken Police Department's arrest log.

Some house parties were broken up on Saturday, but fewer than last year, police said.

Incidents throughout the day included intoxicated people resisting arrest, damage to private property, criminal mischief, obstruction of law and simple assaults.

The arrests related to LepreCon on Saturday almost all involved visitors from other towns, most of the people arrested were male and in their mid-twenties, according to the police reports.

The Fire Department checked bars and cited three establishments for overcrowding: The Madison, Tutta Pasta and The Village Pourhouse, according to the city.