Heads up, partiers: SLO County DA will charge St. Fratty’s Day crimes
Heads up, St. Fratty’s Day partiers — the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office will once again be charging crimes associated with this weekend’s celebration.
According to a Monday news release, the District Attorney’s Office will, for the second year in a row, not offer pre-filing misdemeanor diversion to anyone accused of committing a crime stemming from St. Fratty’s Day — the annual Cal Poly party that typically occurs the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day.
That means suspects will have criminal charges filed against them and will have to attend court.
“Criminal law violations will be pursued in compliance with our mission to ‘bring justice and safety to our community by aggressively and fairly prosecuting crime and protecting the rights of crime victims,’” the release said.
The crackdown from the District Attorney’s Office accompanies other efforts from the city and Cal Poly to reel in the college party, which, in previous years, resulted in thousands of students flooding the streets of residential neighborhoods in the early hours of the morning.
After neighbors began to complain about disruptions and property damage, the city and university changed their approach to the party.
Like last year, Cal Poly will once again host a music festival on campus this year to give students an alternative to the street party. Free tickets were available for 14,000 students and guests.
The concert will be held on campus on March 14.
At the same time, law enforcement will be staged in the neighborhoods to prevent gatherings that might appear.
The city is also implementing safety enhancement zones, meaning fines for violations like noise complaints, open containers and public urination will be doubled. The first safety enhancement zone was underway this past weekend.
Future zones will occur midnight on Friday through March 16 at 7 a.m. and midnight on March 17 through 7 a.m. March 18.
