St. Paddy Wagon: 17 Arrested in Bar Crawl

By Selena Fragassi in News on Mar 15, 2015 4:15PM

There was no luck of the Irish for 17 people arrested after they collectively turned a St. Patrick’s Day drinking tour into a brawl crawl on Saturday. According to the Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown blog, citations went beyond minor blemishes like public intoxication to more serious offenses such as battering a police officer, aggravated assault with a knife, mob action and battery. One person also reported being mugged near Halsted and Roscoe.

“The district's officers were all kept overtime and even the top-ranking cops spent 12+ hours responding to calls,” said CWB Chicago. In total, the report says that “more than 40 ambulance requests resulted in at least 20 persons being transported to area hospitals.” The story also lists a pretty entertaining play-by-play of police activity from 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning through 3:30 Sunday morning. Some of our favorites:

3:12PM — Concerned motorist reports a 20-year-old white guy “wearing a green vest with blood all over his face” walking near Irving and Lake Shore Drive.

5:44PM — People are throwing valuable beer from the second floor of 3118 Sheffield.

8:20PM — Man lying unconscious on the sidewalk at 3828 Wilton. Passers-by are taking selfies with him.

9:44PM — Couple having sex on the wood chips at the back of a playlot. 918 Fletcher. “It’s unknown if it’s consensual.”

This is pretty ever-green territory by this point as every year, St. Patrick’s Day revelers provide even more fodder for those drunken Irish jokes. Even Death and Taxes proudly gave us the bronze title this year of one of the “5 douchiest cities to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,” pointing out our non-traditional customs. “Another Chicago tradition? Big ass brawls. Because it’s the Christian thing to do.”

In contrast, there were no arrests downtown yesterday in the area around the St. Patrick’s Day parade. In recent years, the city has banned alcohol both here and at the once notorious South Side Irish Parade, which has resulted in less police activity and more tolerable conditions. We doubt there’s any hope for the same for Wrigleyville, which for now will remain the home of the fighting Irish.