Police praised for handling of Put-in-Bay crowds

PUT-IN-BAY — Police had their hands full in Put-in-Bay this weekend as thousands of tourists visited to the island for its annual Christmas in July celebration.Videos posted on social media showed multiple fights. Another video shows a woman who appears to pull out a used tampon while in a pool.Many who found the videos on Facebook blamed the behavior on the tour companies who brought buses full of people from Detroit."It seems they have no respect for Put-in-Bay's laws," said Jessica Dress, the president of the Put-in-Bay village council. "(One of the tour companies) encouraged customers to bring coolers and to drink in public, so officers were going from parking lot to parking lot."Dress said she also witnessed erratic golf cart driving, which frightened her. In one instance, a man flipped one of the carts but was luckily fine. She also claimed she smelled marijuana coming from some of the visitors.Despite the problems, Dress and other village leaders believe the police did everything in their power to maintain control given the number of people."The requirements for our police change on a daily basis from a few people to mass crowds," Dress said. "I'm very happy with the police department's performance."Police worked with seven law enforcement agencies, including the sheriff's office, highway patrol, the department of natural resources, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and the Ohio Investigative Unit to form the Allied Bay Law Enforcement team."The police did everything they could to keep things under control," said Brad Ohlemacher, president of the village's chamber of commerce.Put-in-Bay police Capt. Doug Miller coordinated the enforcement effort."We had well over 100 law enforcement officers on the island during this past weekend to help keep the approximately 35,000 tourists safe," a Put-in-Bay police news release states. Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick said he had 14 deputies and four K9s help at the ferry and patrol Put-in-Bay Township.The deputies on the island were from Ottawa, Huron, Erie and Sandusky counties. They didn't encounter any major incidents and didn't make any arrests. But Catawba Island police did arrest three people after a fight broke out on the dock as people were leaving."There were several scuffles and words exchanged when the crowds came back to get on the buses,"Catawba Island police Chief John Gangway said. "The circumstances are kind of sketchy but it started over a cellphone on the ferry and then it spilled over onto the dock."Chief Gangway said the following people were arrested:• Glenn Miller, 25, of Detroit, charged with assault.• Jasmine Little, 32, of Trenton, Mich., charged with persistent disorderly conduct.• Rahim Duncan, 24, of Bedford, Ohio, charged with obstructing official business and persistent disorderly conduct.Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterMultiple fights broke out as people left the ferry from Put-in-Bay.