City police arrested 10 individuals on charges of disorderly conduct early Sunday morning, according to a jail official, following reported incidents of fighting in the Rugby Road area.
The charges reportedly stemmed from altercations which took place around Beta Bridge on Rugby Road, near the Delta Upsilon House.
Around 10 p.m. Saturday night, the fraternity house was host to a comedy show after-party, sponsored by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., a member of the Black Fraternal Council, which had rented the property. The event was part of last weekend's Spring Fling recruitment activities for prospective minority students, organized by the offices of admission and student life.
Second-year College Student Chris Quarles said he was hanging out with a group of friends at Beta Bridge around 2:15 a.m. when the commotion began.
"It was a real big party out there," Quarles said. "It got pretty hectic."
Initially, a large group of people outside the party had spread down nearby Culbreth Road toward Campbell Hall, he said. Within the next 15 minutes, a handful of fights had broken out.
"We saw two guys rolling down the railroad tracks," he said. "As soon as [the police] broke one up, another one would start."
Though the alleged altercations took place off-Grounds, University police were present at the scene, Patrolman William Barnett said.
"We were up there, but I don't know about the particulars," said Barnett, who was not on duty at the time. "We had a lot of things going on so there were a lot more officers out last night."
Charlottesville police also were present before the arrests took place. City Police Sergeant Dave Jones said they had likely been deployed in response to the Spring Fling event.
"All I know is that they had a big to-do last night," Jones said. "It was a little more intense."
At the start of the party, Quarles said six or seven City police cars were stationed near the fraternity house. By the time of the arrests, however, nearly 10 more had arrived along with three paddy wagons.
"The thing that was upsetting to me was that the police were out there all night before the party," he said. "I've never seen that many cops at a normal frat party. It seemed that every cop in Charlottesville" was there.
The detainees were booked on class one misdemeanors around 3 a.m. and released by the magistrate, said Sgt. C. Jordan, an officer at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.
In Virginia, disorderly conduct is punishable by up to a year in prison.
The release of the suspects by the magistrate was consistent with generally accepted practice, Jordan said.
"If your record is a clean record, [you] usually just get processed and released," he said.
Had there been any injuries at the scene, it is unlikely that those involved would have been released, he added.
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