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Ugly Valley Fans turn violent after Penn State Sweet 16 loss
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Several thousand people jammed the streets after Penn State's loss in the NCAA tournament, hurling firecrackers, tossing bottles from balconies and trying to topple lampposts. Twenty people, 14 of them Penn State students, were arrested early Saturday on public drunkenness and other charges in the East Beaver Street area, police said. Police used pepper spray to try to move the crowd out of the street Friday night following the 84-72 loss to Temple in Atlanta. Emergency medical personnel responded to a report of a woman who needed stitches about 1 a.m. and police said at last two officers were struck in the head with beer bottles. People started throwing bottles from the balconies of apartments overlooking the street shortly after midnight and the crowd in the street eventually grew to about 4,000, police estimated. It took officers until about 3:30 a.m. to disperse the crowds. Those arrested Saturday were jailed at the Centre County Prison on charges including public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and criminal mischief. By midday, six had been freed on bail ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, and the rest remained in custody, jail officials said. Police Chief Tom King said the disturbance was less destructive than the violence that erupted in July and at an earlier disturbance in 1998, both during an annual arts festival. In July, 15 people had been charged with offenses such as assault, failure to disperse and resisting arrest during the annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, which draws thousands of alumni to Penn State. In 1998, about 1,500 students gathered and vandals set bonfires in the middle of the street, tore down light posts, battered storefronts and injured more than a dozen police officers.
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