Fort Collins’ Old Town looked like a battle zone early Sunday morning — with windows shattered, cars battered and police sweeping up rioters — when Marie Perry arrived at the store she manages.
“Police lined the street and were herding everyone off from the concert area. Ambulances were taking care of the young men,” Perry said.
At least 14 people were hurt in a melee that involved as many as 400 people and began hours after performances ended at the Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest, according to police.
Police responded at about 1 a.m. to three fights involving large crowds in the area of the music, arts and crafts festival.
Perry and her boss, Bob Criswell, owner of the Santa Fe Craftsman on North College Avenue, went to the store after being alerted by the store’s alarm company.
“I was told by a police officer that it started as a fight around in the square, that it spilled out of the bar,” Criswell told 9News. “When they tried to break it up,the fighters resisted, so the police reacted stronger.”
As officers moved in, the crowds dispersed. About 400 people massed at the intersection of Mountain and College avenues, police said.
Some threw beer bottles and patio furniture at police, damaged cars, stole items from festival vendors’ tents and set trash cans on fire.
Two people were thrown through a plate-glass window at the Santa Fe Craftsman.
The crowd ignored numerous warnings to leave the area, police said. The mob continued its rampage after police fired tear gas. SWAT and mobile-field-force teams moved in.
A dozen people were treated for minor injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital and released, said hospital spokesman Gary Kimsey.
Two others were admitted for treatment with more serious lacerations, one at Poudre Valley and the other at Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. Both have been released, Kimsey said.
No police officers were injured.
Perry arrived to find the Santa Fe Craftsman’s 8-foot-by-12-foot front window in shards. The estimated cost of damage to merchandise was about $1,200.
Police issued several citations for disorderly conduct and fighting in public.
Additional citations and arrests might be pending, police said.
The festival, which featured a performance by Grammy-winning R&B and soul band Earth, Wind & Fire, ended before the disturbance, the Fort Collins Downtown Business Association said in an e-mail.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
