Crime down at St. Paul Park Heritage Days; most police calls alcohol-related

St. Paul Park’s recent Heritage Days celebration saw less criminal activity than in past years, according to a summary of police activity during the festival.

St. Paul Park Police Chief Mike Monahan said there were no serious incidents during last month’s festival, though officers did respond to numerous alcohol-related calls.

Here are some of the festival-related incidents police were dealt with:

• An Inver Grove Heights man and a St. Paul Park woman were cited for drinking alcohol in public Aug. 18 after they were found with drinks at Ninth Avenue and Third Street, outside the Broadway Avenue area where public drinking is allowed during the festival. In a separate incident, a Cottage Grove man was ticketed for drinking in public in the 500 block of Broadway, also outside the designated drinking area.
• Police were called to the 600 block of Hastings Avenue about 8 p.m. Aug. 18 after a Cottage Grove man tripped and fell, gashing his head. The man said he was walking from downtown. A preliminary blood-alcohol test was administered and the man registered a 0.369, more than four times the legal limit to drive. He was transported to Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury.
• A Stillwater woman was transported to a Dakota County detox facility shortly before 1 a.m. Aug. 19. She had been in the 500 block of Broadway when police were called to help her. She blew a 0.184 blood-alcohol concentration, more than twice the legal limit to drive.
• A Rosemount man was cited for public urination after a police officer reported watching the man leave Park Place bar, walk across the street and urinate on the grass in the 200 block of Broadway about 1 a.m. Aug. 19.
• A St. Paul Park man was transported home after police watched him exit Franke’s Bar, throw up and fall down on the sidewalk, hitting his face and causing his nose and mouth to bleed around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 19. The man told a police officer he was punched, but other officers watched him fall. "(The man) was not assaulted and caused his own injuries when he drank too much and fell down," an officer wrote in the report.
• A Cottage Grove man was ticketed for public urination after a sheriff’s deputy watched the man urinate on a building outside Park Place bar in the 200 block of Broadway. The man was leaving Heritage Days when police stopped him.
• A St. Paul Park man was transported to a detox facility after a police officer found the man sleeping on a truck tailgate about 3 a.m. Aug. 19 at Broadway and Second Street. The man said he was waiting for a ride but his friends left without him. His blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.216, nearly three times the legal driving limit.

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