Nearly two-dozen medical emergency calls in a 24-hour period, multiple assaults, a pair of stabbings, an armed robbery, and an apparent heroin overdose: Judging from the local law enforcement reports, it seemed San Luis Obispo citizens didn’t celebrate Super Bowl XLV safely.
“I think what happened this weekend was more violent than what happens during typical weekends,” said SLO Police Department Sgt. Keith Storton.
Storton said he didn’t attribute the increase to the game. Instead, he blamed the psychoactive drug that has been making people act like idiots since its inception: booze.
“I don’t think it was Super Bowl Sunday; it was just another busy weekend,” Storton said of the debauchery. “Most of these [incidents] pertained to alcohol. That’s the nature of these calls, especially in the early morning hours as the bars break up.”
Here were some lowlights that drew SLOPD response:
• A 21-year-old man suffered multiple stab wounds near Branch and High streets on Feb. 6 at 2:40 a.m.
• A 58-year-old man suffered head wounds after being assaulted with a blunt object wielded by another man on Higuera Street on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m.
• A 25-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint by a pair of young men who were driving a white Mercedes Benz near Marsh and Nipomo streets on Feb. 6 at 10 p.m.
The motives for the assaults were undeter-mined as of press time. Investigations are ongoing.
The SLO City Fire Department also responded to multiple medical emergency calls, including a stabbing and an apparent heroin overdose.
Battalion Chief Chris Slate said it “was a fairly normal amount of calls for that shift,” adding that “people need to learn to drink responsibly and to think more about what they are doing.” ∆
This article appears in Feb 10-17, 2011.
