Seventh-inning stretch

Andrew Clapp, 24, got to shake hands with Barry Bonds.
But maybe if he wasn't so drunk he wouldn't have bolted (barefoot) onto the ball field in the middle of a game, attracting criminal charges.

KC man jailed in Indy after bar fight

A Kansas City man was jailed in Indianapolis after a fight at the Have a Nice Day Café there about four hours after the Chiefs-Colts game, police said. The victim was stabbed with a broken beer bottle and underwent surgery.

Indianapolis police tell me there were no indications the fight had anything to do with the game.

Hat tip to reader DB!

Chiefs-Jaguars: no arrests, 7 ejections

There were no arrests, but seven fan ejections and one minor accident at the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Kansas City police said. Sorry, I didn't get any detail on this one.

Chiefs-Chargers game: 43 fans arrested

Forty-three fans were arrested, 79 were ejected and 78 were issued misdemeanor citations during the Chiefs-Chargers game Sunday in San Diego.
One fan tried to run onto the field, two were cited for playing ball, and one was so drunk he had to be sent to the hospital instead of being arrested, police said. They said they didn't have any detail on exactly what the two guys were doing "playing ball".
Thirty-six arrests were for public drunkenness, one each for DUI, assault with intent to do great bodily injury, battery, domestic violence, and interfering with police during arrest.
The misdemeanor citations included theft, minors in possession of alcohol or drugs, urinating in public, and having glass bottles, which are banned.
Most of the ejections resulted from alcohol-related fighting, police said, but there were also ejections for violating a non-smoking rule.
These figures beat last year's game at San Diego, which were highest in the NFL except for Oakland.

Here are fan-ejection stats so far this season, with lots of holes where I was on vacation and missed the games. Those numbers are coming for Kansas City and I hope for other towns.

Not-stolen car recovered at Arrowhead

A Kansas City Chiefs fan got good news at yesterday's otherwise bad-news game when the car he had reported stolen at the Nov. 23 Broncos game was recovered in the parking lot.
Chiefs personnel patrolling the Arrowhead parking lot early Sunday saw the car, ran the tag through Kansas City police and found the vehicle had been reported stolen from the parking lot Nov. 23, said Sgt. Rick Sticken. The car had apparently sat there the whole time.
The recovery was a bright spot in a game that otherwise featured 30 mph gusts of wind and a 20-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
"It was an extremely somber game," said Sticken, police security supervisor at the stadium. "The fans were subdued."
One fan's car window was smashed and a purse stolen, he said. There was an arrest for disorderly conduct and two property damage reports.

Chiefs-Raiders game: Fan arrest report

Three persons selling fake Raiders- and Chiefs-logo T-shirts in the parking lot of Arrowhead Stadium Sunday were arrested -- not for selling shirts, but for being wanted on outstanding city warrants, police said.
"We usually just confiscate the shirts and tell them to have their lawyer call us," said Sgt. Rick  Sticken, police security supervisor at the stadium. But the three were taken into custody because of the warrants, he said.
Other parking lot incidents:

• A man was arrested after other fans saw him break a car mirror. They called 911, and the call was routed to officers at the stadium, Sticken said.
• A woman leaving the game reported an "unknown male assailant" approached her and punched her in the face as she walked to her car. Other fans found her lying on the ground, Sticken said.

Inside the stadium, two fans were arrested for disorderly conduct after causing a disturbance in the seats. And, late in the game, a Chiefs fan was arrested for punching another Chiefs fan, apparently happy to be winning.
At least three persons were ejected, Sticken said, but that may not include ejections by Chief security personnelor other police agencies.

Chiefs-Dolphins: Fans stoned, not violent

Drug-related arrests at the Chiefs-Dolphins game last weekend at Dolphins Stadium in Miami outnumbered violence-related incidents more than 4 to 1, Miami-Dade police reported. Here's the breakdown:

(Source: Sgt. David Comesañas, Miami-Dade Police Department Special Events Unit)

Fans stop wife-shover at Arrowhead

A husband-wife squabble turned ugly at Arrowhead Stadium yesterday when he pushed her up against a car, police said. Other fans intervened and held the man until police arrived. He was arrested and charged with assault, police said.
The arrest was one of two assault cases during the game, police said. There were also three ejections by Kansas City police; ejection totals by stadium personnel and Missouri Highway Patrol troopers were not available.
Additionally, a man trying to scalp a pocketful of game tickets outside the stadium was arrested on a city probation violation warrant.

Thefts, losses reported at Arrowhead

Thefts from five autos were reported yesterday at Arrowhead Stadium, police said. Women's purses were taken from four of the cars, and a radio was ripped out of a fifth, they said.
"There's been a decrease in stealing over the past year," said Sgt. Rick Sticken, Kansas City police security supervisor at the stadium. Only one of the vehicles appeared to be locked, he said.
Also, a woman reported she lost a credit card and her ID when she lowered her bib overalls in the women's room.
Fans should keep close watch on their possessions at the game, Sticken said. Losses of  cell phones, purses and even wallets often occur when fans leave them on the seat to go to the restroom, he said.

Woman flashes men's room at Arrowhead

A young woman so drunk she could barely stand up walked into the men's room at  Arrowhead Stadium and exposed herself during the Chargers game last week, but no witnesses were willing to file a complaint, police said.
"Out of 45 men, who's going to complain about a blonde flashing herself?" said Sgt. Rick Sticken,  Kansas City police's top security man at the stadium. He said he just found out about the incident yesterday.
Another woman, also intoxicated, walked into the men's room during the Seahawks game yesterday, but only because the line to the women's room was so long, Sticken said. She was ejected when she refused to return to her seat and became belligerent, he said.

Update: reader BS Steve points us to another restroom incident at a Seattle Seahawks game.

Correction: 'City' charge versus 'State'

Reader logsol asked what a "city" charge of pot possession was in the thread, Chiefs fan pulls out bag of pot at patdown. To repeat my ham-handed answer would only confuse things here. The correct information came by email from reader Douglas W., a Northland attorney:

• Mr. Reeves:  "City charge" just means that the ticket will be handled in municipal court, where everything is technically "ordinance violations" (unclassified misdemeanor).
• In state court, possession of pot is only a felony if it is over 35 grams in weight, otherwise it is a misdemeanor.
• With all due respect, if you are going to write this crime blog, you need to have a better understanding of this. Thanks.

Thank you, counselor!

Greg Reeves

Chiefs game drunken fan arrests report

Eleven fans were arrested during the Kansas City Chiefs game against the San Diego Chargers Sunday on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to felony assault, police said.
The most serious case involved an arriving fan who intentionally drove his Lincoln Navigator SUV into a Chiefs parking crew guide rather than park where she wanted him to, police said.
The man then parked the SUV and exchanged words with the parking crew guide before entering the stadium, said Sgt. Rick Sticken, police security supervisor at Arrowhead. The guide was not injured, he said.
The man's SUV was towed to the city lot and he was hit with felony assault charges when he came out of the stadium looking for it after the game, Sticken said. He was not immediately identified pending the filing of formal charges.

Other arrests:

• Three for drug possession at patdown of fans when they entered the stadium.
• Three for disorderly conduct/fighting.
• One for assault on a police officer who was struck in the nose while trying to break up a fight.
• Two for stealing, no details available.
• One for trespassing - a fan repeatedly warned not to enter the stadium but did anyway.

UPDATE 12:51 p.m.: I have talked with Scott Quinn and forwarded his complaint to Sgt. Sticken. Greg Reeves

Chiefs fan pulls out bag of pot at patdown

A young man entering Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs-Chargers game Sunday was arrested when he pulled out a small bag of marijuana along with a pocket knife during patdown of fans as they came in, police said.
The man, described as in his 20s, was responding to Chiefs personnel who ask fans to remove pocket knives or other prohibited items from their pockets before entering the stadium, Sgt. Rick Sticken, police supervisor at Arrowhead, said.
The man was issued a city charge of drug possession, Sticken said.

Chiefs-Niners: 9 arrests, 5 ejections

Nine persons were arrested and five were ejected at the Chiefs-Niners game Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City police said.
Supervising KCPD Sgt. Rick Sticken gave this breakdown of arrests:

• 5 for disorderly conduct
• 2 for assault
• 1 for domestic violence assault
• 1 for trespassing

The trespassing arrest came after a man was ejected, then tried to climb over a fence to get back into the stadium, Sticken said.
"He was given fair warning by the stadium people and a police officer, then when they walked him out he was trying to get back in," Sticken said. "So we had to arrest him for trespassing."

Study: Beer, losing turn Packer fans into hooligans

Here's an interesting factoid: When the Green Bay Packers lose at Lambeau, police typically make 50 percent more arrests than they do during a win. The Green Bay Press Gazette crunched the numbers for the past 10 years. They found that Packer fans are generally well-behaved, but that losing-induced alcohol consumption plays a big role. (First the necrophilia, now this. What's up, Wisconsin?)

(Hat tip to Star reporter Mike Mansur!)

7 arrested, 14 ejected at Chiefs-Bengals

Rain-slicked parking lots at Arrowhead stadium - and some fan assaults inside the stadium - made for a busy day Sunday at the Chiefs-Bengals game (Bengals 23-10), Kansas City police said.
Seven fans were arrested, including one for assaulting a police officer, and 14 were ejected, said Sgt. Rick Sticken, police security supervisor at Arrowhead.
Also arrested was a man who tried to drive his truck up the steep grassy slope on the northwest side of the stadium, but instead slid back down, hitting another truck, which then slid into a third vehicle, Sticken said.
The driver tried to flee, but other fans stopped him, Sticken said. He was charged with fleeing the scene of an accident and careless and imprudent driving.
An officer arriving at the scene of a "large disturbance" was pushed, and a fan was arrested for simple assault, Sticken said.
"The mood of the people was really good. All in all, it was an extremely busy day for police out there," he said. Sticken encouraged fans to make walk-in reports if they had an accident at the stadium.
He said fans can also call him at the East Patrol Division 816-234-5530 about police, security or other  issues at Arrowhead.

Chiefs-Rams: Ejections not reported?

If any fans were ejected from the Chiefs-Rams game last Saturday, proper procedures in reporting those arrests were not followed, the Kansas City police security chief at Arrowhead Stadium told me.

After the game, Sgt. Rick Sticken told me there had been no fan arrests and no ejections. And that's what I reported on this blog. But two readers who sat in Section 112 said they witnessed one or several women apparently being ejected.

"If someone was ejected, it wasn't documented properly," Sticken said. "This doesn't happen very often."

Even if a fan is asked to leave, then does so voluntarily, it counts as an ejection, he said. Sticken said he would talk to the commander of the security personnel involved and "make sure that everybody's aware that even an ejection needs to be recorded".

He repeated what he said last year - fans who have a problem - with other fans, or police, for that matter - should:

• Contact a Chiefs security person and tell him or her you have a question/complaint that you would like passed on to police commanders at Arrowhead.
• Call the  city's Office of Citizen Complaints, (816) 234-5005.

P.S. Reader bh owes me a pitcher of margarita's for predicting Sgt. Sticken wouldn't call me back on this! :)

Chiefs-Rams game: Fans ejection-free?

A couple comments landed in the thread, Chiefs-Rams: No arrests, no ejections, that concern me:

I was at the game (section 112). I sit on the aisle. In the 1st half there was one individual that was removed and did not return. Towards the end of the 3rd Qtr, 4 secutity officers, (in bright orange shirts with sidearms) removed a man from the stands. Everyone did leave orderly without a fight, so I guess that was voluntary.
Posted by: BDB | Sunday, August 27, 2006 at 08:29 PM

I WAS IN SECTION 112 ALSO. I SAW THOSE PEOPLE GET REMOVED. DON'T KNOW WHERE THE REPORT CAME FROM THAT THERE WERE NO REMOVALS BECAUSE WE ALL SAW THE DRUNKS THAT WERE GIVING STL A HARD TIME. THE FEMALES WERE THE ONES THAT SURPRISED ME. THEY SEEMED TO ACT LIKE BUNNY RABBITS ON CRACK CUZ THEY WOULD NOT SIT DOWN!!!
Posted by: debaling | Monday, August 28, 2006 at 01:12 PM

Were the "removals" voluntary, or ejections? I've got a call in to the KCPD security supervisor at Arrowhead and will update this post tomorrow when he returns to work.

Chiefs-Rams: No fan arrests or ejections

None of the 74,741 fans at Arrowhead Stadium were arrested or ejected during the Chiefs 16-12 victory over the St. Louis Rams Saturday night, Kansas City police said.
"It worked out real well," Sgt. Rick Sticken, who heads police security at Arrowhead, told me. "The fans were in a real good mood. I think everybody's pumped up for the season."
Sticken said he also noticed a lot of families with children at the game.
"There were lots of kids and families there, which is a big plus," he said. "I saw dads with kids. Maybe that had something to do with it."
Fan arrests at Arrowhead last season ranged from one (Patriots game) to 10 (Eagles game), averaging five per game for the season. An average of 14 fans were arrested at other stadiums where the Chiefs played last season:

Previous posts:

2005 season recap
Battle of Section 304

A reminder:
1. Comments must be signed or may be deleted.
2. No profanity or vulgarity, racially or sexually offensive speech.

Recap: Chiefs drunken fan arrests, 2005

Last year I tracked the number of fans arrested at every Kansas City Chiefs game, home and away (results below). I also reported the number of ejections and other incidents, etc., where I could get it.

Readers responded with some very interesting discussions you can scroll through. On Sunday or Monday, I'll post results from the Chiefs home opener Saturday night.

Verdict overturned in stadium beer suit

The attorney for the family of the paralyzed toddler, calling the case a "major societal issue", says he'll appeal to the state supreme court:

Appeals court tosses out beer verdict
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — An appeals court on Thursday overturned a landmark $105 million verdict against a stadium vendor that sold beer to a drunken fan who later paralyzed a girl in an auto wreck.
Ordering a new trial, the three-judge state appeals panel said the trial court improperly allowed testimony about the “drinking environment” at the 1999 football game at Giants Stadium.
The family claimed that vendors for Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. continued to sell beer to Daniel Lanzaro during a 1999 New York Giants game even though he was clearly drunk, and that the concessionaire fostered an atmosphere in which intoxicated patrons were able to still buy alcohol.
Hours later, Lanzaro, then 34, caused the wreck that paralyzed then-2-year-old Antonia Verni from the neck down.

Hat tip to reader aqua!

Chiefs-Bengals: 3 fan arrests

By Greg Reeves
The Chiefs 2005 season at Arrowhead ended Sunday as it began - with a victory and exactly three fan arrests.
Two fans were arrested for assault and one for disorderly conduct, Sgt. Rick Sticken, the KCPD's supervising sergeant at Arrowhead, told me. Three fans were also ejected by Chiefs security, he said.
The arrests do not include that of a Chiefs season-ticket holder who was taken into custody after someone he had allegedly punched out in a previous game spotted him, Sticken said.
From The Star today:

• The good news about having season tickets at Arrowhead Stadium is that you are guaranteed a seat.
• The bad news, at least for a 28-year-old Lee’s Summit man on Sunday, was that he was sitting near the same fan he allegedly had punched at a previous game.
• Story: Fans’ close encounter repeated – with arrest

Well, that's it. Fan arrest and ejection numbers at Arrowhead were certainlly lower than most - but not all - other teams. How much these numbers reflect fan behavior I leave to people who were actually at those games.
The above data as an Excel spreadsheet

Chiefs-Giants fan arrests, finally

By Greg Reeves
I finallly caught up with New Jersey State Police for fan arrest stats at the Chiefs-Giants game Dec. 17.
They're the New York Giants, but they play in East Rutherford, N.J. at Giants Stadium.
"We showed nothing unusual for that game," Capt. Al Della Fave told me. "We had across the board for the entire event 14 people arrested, which is basically average. A high game usually ranges around 20, a really good game about four or five people. But this is definitely average for any sporting event run out of there."
"Of the 14 people arrests, seven were for improper behavior. The rest of the folks arrested were for trespassing. That’s basically the people who come on the property, solicit knock-off shirts and other things. Improper behavior is - people who get a little bit out of control – verbal arguments, not acting quite right, people in the section complain, and they need to be escorted out."
Fans are handed a court summons, much like a traffic ticket, Della Fave said. The charge is a municipal offense but does require a court appearance, he said.

Fan arrests in Chiefs game this season so far
Chiefs fan discussion earlier this season
All the posts in this category

Chiefs-Chargers: Mild in the seats

By Greg Reeves
Police made only two arrests at the Chiefs-Chargers game at Arrowhead on Christmas Eve, and recorded no fan ejections.
The low number of arrests reflected a generally well-behaved crowd,  said Sgt. Rick Sticken, supervising sergeant of KCPD off-duty operations at Arrowhead.
"One of (the arrests) was just a disturbance. We ended up checking him, he had a Clay County warrant, so we took him into custody," Sticken said. "Another one was for fighting with some fan, disorderly conduct."
That was the lowest number of fan arrests at Arrowhead this season, except for the Nov. 27 Chiefs-Patriots game, at which there was only one arrest.
"It was just cold, rainy, everybody was having a good time type day," Sticken said.
Here are fan arrests through the Chiefs season: Previous posts

 

Update: Drunken NFL fan arrests

By Greg Reeves
Nine fan arrests in a Nov. 27 game have caused the New York Jets to ban beer in their upcoming game against the New England patriots Monday night.
Only nine? Fan arrests at Arrowhead  have topped out at 10 this year (Eagles game). Thirty-eight fans were arrested when the Chiefs played the universally notorious Oakland Raiders in that city.
But the Nov. 27 fracas (at a Jets-Saints game) featured a double stabbing and a state trooper who suffered a broken leg. KCPD Sgt. Rick Sticken, the department's top guy at Arrowhead, has told me nothing near that serious has happened in his many years at Arrowhead.
In fact, some readers from other cities say lots of stadiums are rougher than Arrowhead. This comment landed Wednesday on the Nov. 3 post, Chiefs fans: Wild in the seats?:

• You folks don't know drunk and obnoxoius. I live in Virginia and have been a Philly Eagles season ticket holder since 1977. Nothing better then a Sun. 4:15 game,it gives Philly fan an extra three hours to drink firewater.

Beer ban coverage coast-to-coast:
Fans have nothing to look forward to (Boston)
Jets shut beer tap (KC Star)
Alcohol banned (Seattle)

Fan arrests update: Chiefs-Cowboys

By Greg Reeves
When it comes to fan misbehavior, Dallas area police have more problems with music venues than football games, says Irving, TX police spokesman David Tull.
It's Irving police that provide security at Texas Stadium, where the Chiefs lost 28-31 to the Cowboys on Dec. 11.
"We have more arrests at concerts than we do at football games," Tull told me. "We have four to 10 arrests per game, on average."
Stadium arrests, however, are lumped in with all other arrests in police records, he said, and there's no easy way to segregate them. So I've arbitrarily set the number at the average, seven.
Ejections?
"Most of the time we can hook people up with someone sober enough to drive them home," Tull said. "And we don't even keep track of those."
"We try not to keep people from having a good time, but when their behavior starts encroaching on others - that's when we throw the flag."
Here's the update through the Cowboys game on fan arrests - a tally that started out as a lark, but that resulted in a pretty interesting discussion of fan behavior, so I'm continuing through the season.

Still waiting for fan arrest stats from Texas

   How many fans were arrested at Texas Stadium during Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs?
   We're still trying to find out. And we're also still waiting for an answer from the Houston Texans on the number of fans arrested at their Nov. 20 game against the Chiefs.
   Apparently, you don't mess with Texas when it comes to getting arrest statistics from football games. All the other teams have provided the figures, however, and here's the chart:
   We'll let you know what we hear from Texas.

                         

   











   

Chiefs-Broncos fan arrest update

By Greg Reeves
Fan arrests at the Chiefs-Bronco game yesterday were second-highest of any home game this season: eight. But that's still pretty low compared to some of the team's other venues.

"Things went pretty well until near the end of the game," said Sgt. Rick Sticken, supervising sergeant of the KCPD off-duty security contingent at Arrowhead. "That's usually how it goes."

The eight arrests included charges of disorderly conduct, assaulting a police officer, and one arrest for an outstanding city warrant, Sticken said.

Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore commented last week, while I was gone, that not all these cases involved "drunken" fans. Agreed. But, here and elsewhere, the great majority of stadium arrests for disorderly conduct, assault and the like do involve alcohol.

I appreciate Bob's help to me this season. My first post, after the Jets game, was meant to be ironic more than anything else - only three arrests out of 78,000-plus fans. Comments by Chiefs fans on later posts, however, proved that fan behavior is an important topic for many.

So, look at the numbers below and say what you think, if you feel like it. Doesn't Arrowhead come off looking pretty good?

Give Chiefs fans a break

   Chiefs PR guy Bob Moore wants us to know that not all the fans arrested at Arrowhead during football games are drunken slobs. In fact, he points out, the lone arrest at Sunday's game against the New England Patriots wasn't for drunkenness at all.
   It was for counterfeiting a ticket.
   "He made a phony ticket," Moore said. "It happens. There are all sorts of things that happen that have nothing to do with alcohol and fights."
   Like scalping and counterfeiting.
   "We really don't ever have that many arrests," he said.

Chiefs fans ain't misbehavin': 1 arrest

   When the Chiefs win and they don't play the hated Raiders, fans apparently are more law-abiding.  Police arrested just one fan at the Chiefs game against the Patriots on Sunday. Police didn't know what the offense was, but said it was only a city charge. And if you're wondering about the stats from the Houston game, we're still waiting. Those Texans are slooooowww...

Houston fans: No bare breasts this time

By Greg Reeves
Can it be? Houston Texans fans are the best-behaved in the NFL?
So says Houston police spokesman Alvin Wright:
"We don’t have the kind of rowdiness that most teams usually have," Wright told me. "The biggest thing here was Janet Jackson’s (breast) and the naked guy on the field, that was it."
The famous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction happened during last year's SuperBowl. As did the 30-yardline appearance of professional streaker Mark Roberts from England.
Neither of those incidents can be blamed on Houston fans, of course.
"I’ve been here 22 years, and at our games – football, basketball, baseball – we don’t get a whole lot of that," Wright said.
Not even during the heartbreaking (for Houston) World Series this year:
"The most we had maybe was the folks outside the stadium at some of the pavilions watching the game, we had maybe seven arrests for DWIs or public intoxication. That was it. You’re talking about crowds inside the stadium, outside the stadium, in totality we only had seven arrests."
So how many fan arrests/ejections yesterday? Only the Texans know for sure - I've asked for the info.

Related posts

Bills venue: Strictest NFL stadium?

By Greg Reeves
Word that 90-some fans had been ejected from the Chiefs-Bills game Sunday - more than anywhere else in the Chiefs season so far - caused me to try to find out why.
So I called Toni Cudney (left), town supervisor of Orchard Park, NY, site of the Ralph Wilson Stadium and home of the Buffalo Bills football team. Here's our talk:
Q. More than 90 people were ejected. Busloads!
A. Ninety's not a busload!
Q. How many people fit on a bus?
A. I don't know.
Q. Ninety is more than anywhere the Chiefs have played.
A. Wow! You’re saying 90’s the highest number?
Q. Yes.
A. I think we’re just really tough here in Orchard Park. We have a reputation for being very conservative as a community. We’re conservative and our police force is very tough. I call my Orchard Park residents high-maintenance taxpayers, because they really expect you to do the job, and they don’t want rowdy people walking through their yards and trespassing and drunk people falling down. I would suspect the benchmark is high.

 

Bills fans ejected by the busload

By Greg Reeves
Eleven fans were arrested - and more than 90 ejected - at Ralph Wilson Stadium during the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Buffalo Bills yesterday.
That's a higher total number of fan arrests/ejections than any other Chiefs game this season.
The stadium is actually in nearby scenic Orchard Park, NY. Sam McCune, Orchard Park police chief, listed fan offenses:

• Criminal trespass
• Harassment
• Resisting arrest

Trespassers include ejected fans who tried to sneak back in, and fans inside who decided to hop up on the roof of luxury boxes and run around the stadium.
"We apprehended them," McCune told me. Harassment charges can result from overly rowdy fan behavior, vulgar language or any behavior that leads to complaints from other fans, he said.

Chiefs-Bills: Security guy update

By Greg Reeves
This isn't about drunken fans or sports crime, but it's a news update: The Buffalo Bills security man who was bowled over on a touchdown play suffered only a bad sprain, not a broken leg.

That's the word from Orchard Park (NY) police chief Sam McCune, who I called to get stats on fan arrests and ejections.

He told me the injured security man was a former Niagara County sheriff's officer. Just thought I'd get this word out.

“He’s doing well," McCune told me. "They first of all thought it was a broken leg, but now it appears that it was a bad strain.”

Chiefs-Bills: Drunken fan arrests update

By Greg Reeves
Tried to reach the Buffalo Police Department to give them a heads-up that I will want fan arrest and ejection totals at the Chiefs-Bills game Sunday. But they have no one to handle pesky reporters. A "duty inspector" will call me back...not sure what that is.
Anyway, here are the fan-arrest numbers in the Chiefs season so far. This is new data - Miami cops, to their credit, finally got back to me after Hurricane Wilma.
"We had six arrests, all for possession of marijuana," said Robert Williams of the Miami-Dade PD. "Twenty-seven fans were ejected. One of those 27 was a Kansas City Chiefs fan."
The game was played under special circumstances - pre-hurricane. Star sports reporter Liz Merrill tells me only paid attendance was announced - 68,350 - but that the stadium was a little less than half full at kickoff, and a little more than half full 30 minutes later. So I guesstimated attendance at 35,000. Background and related stories

A fan's Jets game complaint about police

By Greg Reeves

Sunday night after the Raiders game I talked with Sgt. Rick Sticken, the KCPD's top man at Arrowhead for the Chiefs games.
He asked me to post contact info for fans who have a problem with police. That produced this comment from an unhappy fan:

• "i am a chiefs season ticket holder sec 327 at the opening game which im sure their were plenty of disturbences i had a man sitting be hind me very intoxicated before the opening kickoff.. he fell on our seats 2 times while our tunnel security and off duty police officers watched. The person sitting next to my seats had to get up and tell security that this intoxicated man needs to be taken out he continously spitting behind us and passing out during the 1st quarter. All the officers and secuirty did was laugh and say they will keep and eye on the situation. Once the man behind my steats threw up on my seats that is when police decided to step in and send him out of the sitting area where he stood by the consessions.  At the end of half time the man walked back to the seats passed security and police and sat back at the seats, this time only for a short period before police finaly did their jobs and esscorted him away from the area completly. As a Season ticket holder i am very unsatisfied with the fact i can be disrupted and harmed by falling down drunk people and persons who puke on my seats before security feels the need to do something about the situation before an incident acures."

All yours, sarge?

Raiders game: Blackhawk down

By Greg Reeves
Arrowhead Stadium, Chiefs-Raiders game, 4th quarter:
His T-shirt says "Cut Your Mullet" and he looks a little like Willem Dafoe, if Willem Dafoe was half-drunk, mad and being hustled out of the stadium by Chiefs security.

The man wants back in. He approaches POs James Coleman and Travis Stuteville.
"I served my country! I flew Blackhawk helicopters!" he says.
"You're at Arrowhead Stadium now," Coleman tells him. There's no re-entry.
The man uses the f-word a lot. Coleman keeps telling him he's free to go. Cut-Your-Mullet keeps using the f-word.
"I love you guys," he says. "I'm ex-military."
This goes on for maybe five minutes. Finally, Stuteville says, "In 10 seconds you're going to jail."
Cut-Your-Mullet knows when to quit. He turns away. "I'm going to write a letter!"

2 girls, 1 shower: Chiefs fan slips on soap

By Greg Reeves
A Chiefs fan from Oklahoma must have been thinking what a great town Kansas City is - no sooner does he meet a new friend, Tina, at a Quik-Trip - she invites him to her place and hops in the shower with him.
Stepping out, the man finds Tina and her friend Stephanie are gone, along with:

• His wallet, with a) all his ID b) $12.00 c) Two Visa cards.
• Three Chiefs tickets (his and two pals' from OK)
• His cell phone
• His car keys
• His car (black 1999 Mitsubishi Gallant)

The man called his cell phone, Tina-Stephanie answered and said they'd be right back. Then they didn't answer anymore.

Independence police are checking into the shower address - it doesn't seem to belong to Tina or Stephanie. From the police report:

• "RO gave the victim a ride back to the Comfort Inn where his friend contacted the victim's family and was able to obtain the VIN and license number from the stolen Gallant...The victim and his two friends are stranded as the car they come up in, is the stolen vehicle."

There's a moral in here somewhere...not sure where.

Thanks and a hat tip to Star reporter Kevin Hoffman!

(Chiefs logo courtesy of artist Andreas Stabno. Many thanks!)

Chiefs fan: Drinking season tix away

By Greg Reeves
Arrowhead Stadium, Chiefs-Raiders game, 4th quarter:
The complaint comes from an older woman - three young men near her in Section 337 are smoking - at least one of them is. Smoking in the stands is banned.
POs Travis Stuteville and James Coleman, standing watch over Sections 335-340 in the end zone, make their way to the young men.
The conversation doesn't go well, and I catch up with the officers and three young men as they come down the steps. Only one fan is being ejected - but his two pals won't let go.
"Go back, you &^%% idiot!" the fan being ejected yells at one friend. The third young man - who says he's a seven-year season-ticket holder - is getting angrier and angrier.
As he argues with the cops, they recognize him - they helped arrest him for fighting at the Eagles game. Coleman got a full beer splashed across his chest in that one.
Stuteville-Coleman eject him too. No one is arrested - but Coleman writes out two yellow "incident reports" that will be turned over to Chiefs security. Season tickets can be revoked.
The two cops tell me several times during the day they're not trying to wreck anyone's good time; they cut fans a break when they can. I'm not trying to get anybody busted, but the incident cards look like serious business to me.

Raiders game: Metal flagpole, no

By Greg Reeves
Scene: pre-game Arrowhead, 11:37 a.m., Chiefs v. Raiders, on the ramps.
I'm with KCPD Officers James Coleman and Travis Stuteville. A man runs up to us and says he saw a young Raiders fan pass a 5-foot metal flagpole through a fence to a young woman companion.
We set out looking and find the couple, flagpole in hand, coming toward us. We stop them. Both are all smiles and apologetic.
The flagpole is metal - looks to be aluminum or light-grade steel - and is capped with a metal crown. Attached is a large Raiders flag, maybe 4x3 or bigger. Police confiscate both, and tell the pair where to pick it up after the game.
Passing Chiefs fan: "Thank you for taking that flagpole, officers!"
Stuteville, 29: "We're not here to ruin people's good time. We're not mean. Just because we're the police, doesn't mean we're mean."

Raiders game: Alcohol threshold reached

By Greg Reeves
Sunday at Arrowhead: In a football stadium sprinkled with notorious Oakland Raiders fans, how could chaos be avoided? Wouldn't drunken brawls break out everywhere?
Before the game, I met up with Kansas City police officers James Coleman and Travis Stuteville, to see a Chiefs game day from their perspective. They work the games off-duty, paid by the Chiefs but under auspices of the KCPD.
Coleman-Stuteville are responsible for Sections 335 through 340, an upper-level area in the end zone above Gate G. By their estimate, the sections contain 1,500 fans.
Despite a lone Raiders fan who was so drunk by the first quarter he could barely get up the steps, all was sweetness and light for most of the game. Not so much as a sloshed beer - until the last few minutes of the game.
"It was crazy," said Sgt. Rick Sticken, the KCPD's top guy at Arrowhead. "It just erupted, and I don't know why."
I'll lay out those last few minutes later today. Meanwhile, here are fan arrest/ejection results from Sunday's game. There were five ejections and six arrests:

• 1 for hit-and-run (colliding with a bus and trying to driving away, only to be chased down by police)
• 1 person who got involved enough with officers that police checked for outstanding warrants, and found one.
• 2 for disorderly conduct. This can range from obnoxious language to annoying police so much they arrest you (although my impression was it's hard to get arrested at a Chiefs game. You basically have to arrest yourself).
• 2 for assault, i.e., fighting.

I witnessed two of the ejections. I'll blog about those and other interesting stuff I saw later today. Here are updated fan arrest stats:

On patrol Sunday at Arrowhead

By Greg Reeves

Kansas City Chiefs PR man Bob Moore - despite something like 15 other Star staffers in line for credentials - has made space for me at Arrowhead Sunday for the Raiders game.

I'll be tagging along with one or more Kansas City police officers before and during the game, to see how they work and observe fan behavior. I've already met the KCPD's top guy at Arrowhead, Sgt. Rick Sticken (right), and he explained the police/security operation there to me.

I sent Bob links to the most recent fan-arrests data I've posted, and to the pretty intense fan discussion ("Chiefs fans: Wild in the Seats?") that followed both items.

Will post arrests/ejections results after the game Sunday or early Monday.

Chiefs rookie's shocking message to fans: Put the beer down!

By Greg Reeves
(With the Raiders game coming up, I'm re-posting this from Oct. 17)

Make noise, Chiefs fans. Just make it at the right time. It's important.

This is the message of Chiefs rookie Boomer Grigsby (left), who is writing a diary of his work life for the Chiefs Website:

• "...When you see the defense waving their hands in the air...that’s not a publicity stunt...That’s to call on the help of the fans to say we need you. We need (the opposing quarterback) to not even be able to think straight because it’s so loud.

• The ultimate goal is try to get as many false start penalties as possible, and the fans can take all the credit for that. As a defense we can’t lure them offsides, so if they jump it is all because of the fans at Arrowhead.

• So remember that fans, we need you all to put the beer down – because I know everybody’s got one in their hands. And stand on their feet and all start screaming like crazy. If you look down at me, I’ll probably be screaming at the top of my lungs, too..."

Chiefs fans: Wild in the seats?

By Greg Reeves
Wow. A pretty good discussion of NFL fan behavior has followed the post, Chiefs-Chargers fans arrest report. Sample:

• Arrowhead definitely has more obnoxious drunks than single digits everytime I've been
• I refuse to ever set foot in Arrowhead...I was accosted during the playoff game with the Colts several years ago
• Its too bad to hear about your experience...You shouldn't lump all Chiefs fans in with one person
• I was mugged - suckerpunched, no less - by a group of drunk teenagers...
• I have been to 130+ Chiefs games and the only time I have seen problems is when some loud mouth earns the problem.

Raiders fans, it seems to be universally agreed, do everything but break up the seats and start a bonfire. Here's a photo from the Chiefs-Raiders game in Oakland Sept. 18:

That's an effigy of Tony Gonzales.

Chargers have jail for whole family

By Greg Reeves
I've posted before about the his-and-hers holding cells at Arrowhead.
The San Diego Chargers go one better at even-older-than-Arrowhead Qualcomm Stadium. They have one for juveniles too.
Thus, in these days of trying to keep the family together, the Chargers can incarcerate all generations
Source: San Diego police PIO and former TV guy in Kansas City Dave Cohen (1971-75). Dave e-mails:

• When I anchored sports at WDAF-TV, John Masterman (former NBC correspondent, now deceased) was the lead anchor and Jack Cafferty (big CNN star now) was the weather guy.  The only name I really recall from KC newspaper sports in those days was Joe McGuff, although I'd probably remember other names if I heard them.
• Had a great time in KC (1971-1975).  Covered the first game at Arrowhead (an exhibition between the Chiefs and the St. Louis Cardinals, I think).  Did the Hank Stram Show for two years.