Durango’s Snowdown is known for its good times, its economic jolt to local businesses and quirky events. But it also brings in a wave of crime.
The Durango Police Department responded to a total of 241 incidents over the Snowdown weekend – that’s up from 170 incidents the weekend before. In all, 19 people were arrested.
“To say your officers were busy would be an understatement,” Durango police posted to social media.
Officers initiated 121 of the calls, while 79 calls were to non-emergency dispatch and another 41 incidents were called into 911.
Aside from the 19 arrested, another 68 people received verbal warnings and four people received citations.
A breakdown of the calls looks something like this: two car crashes, one assault, a burglary, three domestic violence calls, 15 intoxicated behavior calls, three obscene conduct calls and seven drinking while driving arrests.
Cmdr. Ray Shupe said the car accidents were not serious. He said the burglary was called into police after a person was kicked out of the Days Inn motel at 3030 Main Ave. and broke back into his motel room.
Shupe said in all, this Snowdown was about average for the police department.
“We geared up because we know it’s going to be a lot of alcohol,” Shupe said. “We just really caution people not to drink and drive. That’s the biggest thing we deal with.”
One person was arrested about 8 a.m. Friday on suspicion of driving to McDonald’s “in a highly intoxicated state.” He got into a “yelling match” with the worker at the drive-thru window, after which police were called.
“At the drive through window, he was contacted and arrested for his 4th DUI,” police posted. “He had a loaded gun in his pocket, and he was driving without an interlock device which was required from his last DUI.”
Around 1:20 a.m. Saturday, officers stopped and arrested a female driver for drunken driving. Police said a male passenger who was also drunk tried to drive the car home, but officers wouldn’t let him.
“The male left, found another vehicle, and drove to the La Plata County Jail to pick up the female,” the post said. “Needless to say, he was arrested for DUI as well.”
Around 1 a.m. Saturday, a man was stopped by police after he supposedly urinated on a parked car in front of Joel’s Bar at 119 W. Eighth St.
“We are still not sure if he thought he was in a bathroom or if he really had it out for the Division of Motor Vehicles since he was urinating on a license plate,” the post said. “He was cited for obscene conduct and taken to detox so he could sober up.”
Police were called back to detox a short time later after the man refused to cooperate. He was then taken to the La Plata County Jail.
On Sunday afternoon, police received a report of a man wielding a knife and a 2-by-4. The man broke out the window of a parked car and was yelling at imaginary people. Durango police said he was taken into custody without incident.
“It was determined that he was taking drugs and not in a good state of mind,” the post said. “He was taken to jail where he could detox without causing further harm to stationary objects.”
Colorado State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll and La Plata County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Burke did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday morning.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
