(BEDFORD) – On Tuesday, the Commissioners were updated about the events during the 20th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos this past weekend at the Lawrence County Recreational Park in Springville.
Lawrence County Sheriff deputies, Indiana State Police troopers and officers with the Bedford and Mitchell Police Departments worked the event along with several ambulance crews and first responders from area volunteer fire departments. No officers were paid for with county money. The event coordinator and a grant paid their salaries.
Emergency Management Director Valerie Luchauer reported that between 7,500 to 10,000 people attended the event.
“This was a new event, and we didn’t know what to expect,” she added.
Luchauer spent more than 87 hours at the event.
“Emergency crews treated 200 people on-site and transported 12,” she added.
Those treated suffered various injuries ranging from diabetic issues, falls, cuts, chest pains, dehydration, allergic reactions, and asthma attacks. Some had issues from overindulging of alcohol and drug use.
“No Narcan was used,” Luchauer added.
Officials noted that there were some traffic problems on opening day.
“We did have to tow some vehicles,” said Sheriff Mike Branham. “They left their vehicles in the middle of Moore Lane. Once we posted no parking signs the problem stopped.”
Most of those attending the event were peaceful and courteous.
There was an incident where someone picked up a couch on the side of the road in Bloomington and brought it to the event.
“During the grand finale, they set that couch on fire, and we thought they had thrown propane tanks on it, but it ended up being just coolers,” Luchauer said. “They also threw in picnic tables and fireworks.”
There were concerns because the fire was directly under live power lines.
“The power was shut off,” she added. “They also set the porta-potties on fire.”
Firefighters let the fire burn out on its own and then doused the fire to make sure it would not re-ignite.
Luchauer said members of the crowd were apologizing about the fires.
Sheriff Branham says officers arrested 13 out-of-state residents.
“Out of those 13, 11 were drug-related,” he added.
The following are the number of calls the Sheriff Department received:
- 21- Request for officers
- 6 – Emergency medical calls – There are separate from the ones on-site
- 1 – Fire
- 95 – Traffic stops
The jail population jumped to 198 inmates held in the jail.
The jail has 180 beds and officials prefer to keep the numbers around 144 which is 80 percent capacity.
“Between Thursday and Friday we released 38 inmates,” says Sheriff Mike Branham. “In July our average daily population was 181.”
As of this morning, there were 162 inmates in the jail, of those 126 were males, 36 females, five Level 6 offenders, two Department of Correction holds, and on parole violators.
