Busy New Year's holiday weekend in South Lake Tahoe and Stateline

It was a very busy holiday weekend in South Lake Tahoe, with hotels, vacation homes and the slopes full of revelers, along with the thousands of attendees at the three-day music festival, SnowGlobe.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) was kept busy during the New Year’s Eve celebrations, however, it was relatively calm. The Stateline corridor was fairly uneventful on the California side, while the Nevada side saw a moderate size crowd come out at midnight. Highway 50 was closed in the casino corridor from 11:30 p.m. to 12:25 a.m. Most of the crowd was concentrated around the Hard Rock Casino where they had outdoor music on the plaza and in their outdoor restaurant.

On the Nevada side, they too reported a quieter than usual New Year’s Eve. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO)reports about 5,000 filled the corridor, a big change when numbers a couple of decades ago were near 50,000. DCSO arrested 12 people at Stateline as Possession of a Controlled Substance, Sales of a Controlled Substance, Drug Trafficking, Domestic Battery, Battery on a Peace Officer, Resisting & Obstruction of a Peace Officer, Warrant Arrests, Parole and Probation Violations, Traffic Violations, and Civil Protective Custody.

DCSO Captain Dan Coverley was the Incident Commander under Sheriff Pierini, and said the crowd was very respectful and seemed to have a good time. "I am appreciative of the party goers who chose to come to Tahoe to celebrate the New Year," added Sheriff Ron Pierini.

SLTPD made seven arrests in South Lake Tahoe on New Year's Eve out of the 60 calls for police service their dispatch center received.

Of those calls:
14-Disturbance
3-Homeless/Transient
1-Traffic Collision
2-Battery on Person
7-Public Intoxication
1- DUI
4-Domestic Violence
7-Suspicious circumstance
2-Parking related
2-Drug possession arrests

A year ago, 43 calls for service were received, resulting in 10 arrests.

Some of those calls:
4-Disturbance
2-Auto Burglary
1-Traffic Collision
1-Battery on Person
5-Public Intoxication
1- DUI
4-Domestic Violence

Over the three nights of SnowGLobe an estimated 18,500 tickets were sold.

"Considering the number of people we had, arrests were low," said SLTPD Lt. Shannon Laney. "Closing Al Tahoe was a huge benefit." He said even though there were a few complaints, the benefit prevented many issues seen in previous years.

Laney said it was not a sold-out crowd, but a "huge crowd."

"I think we're getting better at it," said Laney. "It went really well."

On New Year's Eve, 18 people were arrested at SnowGlobe: 10 were “Minor in Possession of Alcohol,” six for "Possession of controlled substance," one for "Furnishing alcohol to a minor," and one for public intoxication. 15 were made by Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and three by SLTPD.

The first two days resulted in 29 arrests.

Arrests for ABC:
10 - Minor in possession
2 - Possession for a controlled substance and resisting arrest
1 - Possession for a controlled substance
1 - Possession of a fake ID
1 - Furnishing alcohol to a person under 21 yrs old
1- Open Container in Vehicle

SLTPD:
7 - Trespassing
5 - Minor in possession
1 - Resisting arrest

There were eight medical transports from SnowGlobe to Barton Hospital during the three days of the festival. On site, Rock Med treated 170 people in their tent for drug and alcohol related problems, as well as a couple of people with ankle injuries and exposure to the elements.

"Transports were down, numbers seen were up," said South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief Jeff Meston.

He said if it weren't for Rock Med being on site they'd have some issues.

There were approximately 40 nurses, paramedics, EMTs, and doctors at SnowGlobe with Rock Med

"Take care of the individual right now. Return him or her to their friends or family and do away with the necessity of either hospitalizing the individual or getting involved with the law," says George R. "Skip" Gay, M.D., Founder & Former Director of Rock Med on their website.

Started in 1972 when Bill Graham asked for a medical clinic at Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin outdoor concerts, Rock Med provides free, non-judgmental care and setting the standard in event medicine. They provide all medical coverage at many classic Bay Area venues such as Levi Stadium, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, Shoreline Amphitheater, Toyota Amphitheatre, and many smaller venues.

On the vacation home rental side of things, the SLTPD Community Service Officers responded to 42 calls from December 29 - January 1, resulting in 12 violations.