Police broke up numerous parties in the bustling college town, which will hold commencement ceremonies this week.
AMHERST – The last weekend before graduation proved to be a relatively wild one, with rowdy parties reported throughout the bustling college town, according to authorities.
In the lead-up to commencement ceremonies at the University of Massachusetts, which begin Friday and continue Saturday, police issued tickets, arrested revelers and broke up numerous gatherings, large and small.
Calls ranged from intoxicated students to an incident on Saturday involving a woman who was apparently stabbed in the leg in the parking lot of The Boulders, an apartment complex off East Hadley Road. She was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton for treatment, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Clik here to view.
David FosterIn another incident, Amherst Police Detective David Foster told the Northampton newspaper that an investigation is under way to identify two men who reportedly assaulted a college-age man in the Amity Street parking lot next to the Amherst Cinema building on Saturday. The man sustained a broken nose and cuts to his face, according to Foster.
Also on Saturday, a man was assaulted after an intruder gained entry to his Sunset Avenue home, police said.
Parties dominated the weekend social calendar in Amherst, including a Friday night Friday gathering that drew more than 300 people to 181 College St. Police responded to that party at about 11:30 p.m. About an hour later, officers broke up another large party at 115 Belchertown Road. Police made arrests at both gatherings, the Gazette reports.
The merriment continued through Saturday afternoon, including a party at 121 Meadow St., dubbed the "Beer Olympics," that attracted more than 200 people. Officers helped disburse the crowd.
Officers responded to an early Sunday fraternity party at 496 North Pleasant St., where rowdy students threw bottles into the road. At about the same time, officers arrested a dozen people attending parties on Phillips Street, located along the southern edge of the UMass campus.
The Gazette reports that Amherst firefighters also were busy, extinguishing a Saturday night Dumpster fire on Hobart Lane and a Sunday morning Dumpster fire at the Brandywine Apartments. They also responded to a Sunday night report of a large bonfire, in which furniture and other items were burned, at 388 Pine St.
UMass commencement ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate students are scheduled for Friday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., respectively. The graduation ceremony for agriculture students will be held Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
