DURHAM — University of New Hampshire students poured onto Main Street in celebration shortly after the Boston Red Sox won their first world championship in 86 years, forcing several police departments to disperse them using officers, mounted patrol and German shepherds.
Though the crowd was dispersed within an hour, police used mounted patrol to push students along and German shepherds were brought in, at times biting the pant legs of students in the crowd. Police made two arrests, including a Foster’s Daily Democrat photographer, for interfering with a police dog after being ordered to cease and desist.
Aaron Rohde had just taken a photo of a dog biting at a group of students, when a state police officer started pushing him away, Rohde said. He then identified himself as a photographer working for Foster’s and proceeded to take a photo of the officer and asked the officer his name. The officer refused to identify himself several times, Rohde said, and threw Rohde to the ground along with his camera equipment, and cuffed him on the scene.
Rohde said he was originally told he was being arrested for assaulting a police officer, but was charged with disorderly conduct.
Foster’s Executive Editor Rodney G. Doherty said he was disappointed police would arrest a working member of the press.
"Similar to the police investigating the incident, we’ll need to look into the cause of the arrest," Doherty said. "We have high regard for the difficulties police officers face in confrontational situations and we respect their efforts. And, I do not expect Foster’s news people to interfere with those efforts. But on first blush it appears the arrest was made because the police officer did not want the photographer to take a picture of the dog attacking someone. Having other police officers throw Rohde and his equipment to the ground, handcuff him and hold him in a police van for 45 minutes seems a bit much.
"It’s not just inappropriate, it’s a violation of the rights of a free press. Restraining our photographer not only stopped the photographer from doing his job, it impacted the ability of the newspaper to do its job for the public," Doherty said.
The use of German shepherds was part of the crowd control plan, said Durham Deputy Chief Rene Kelley this morning, and they were used throughout the night to move students along. He said he was unaware of any incidents where dogs had bit the legs of students in the crowd.
A 19-year-old male was also arrested by UNH police for internal possession of alcohol. Kelley could not confirm whether he was a student. The university promised swift action against any student arrested, said Kim Billings, university spokesperson. Any student arrested will have to leave campus and cannot return until after a judicial hearing. Another person was taken into protective custody.
Speaking after the crowd dispersed Wednesday night, Durham Police Chief Dave Kurz said the students have been cooperating with police throughout the baseball postseason. The night went by mostly without incident as the police followed a strategy to keep students moving and avoid a large mob gathering.
"I’m feeling very good about this," Kurz said Wednesday night. "This is a demonstration of what happens when you work together as a community."
The 86-year-old curse was broken at about 11:40 p.m. when a ground out spelled victory for the Sox. A loud, prolonged cheer boomed out of the bars and restaurants on Main Street, signaling the release of decades of frustration. Chants of "Here we go Red Sox" and "Yankees suck" were intermingled with The Standells’ "Dirty Water" blasting over radios.
Students started to pour into the street shortly after, lining the sidewalks in large groups. Cries of "It’s over, the curse is over," could be heard throughout the crowd.
"This is incredible, I never thought it would happen in my life," said Willie Pilkovsky, a sophomore at UNH.
Police, including the Dover Mounted Patrol, soon moved in to force the crowd to keep moving down Main Street. The progression was slow, but students moved down the road, at times gathering in large groups temporarily to start another cheer. The three horses from mounted patrol were used to block students from heading back and force them to move forward.
Several police dogs were eventually brought in and moved down Main Street toward the students, barking at each other and at one point almost biting a reporter who had been standing in the road. State police did not return phone calls Thursday morning seeking comment about the use of dogs or Rohde’s arrest.
The dogs could be seen being brought directly up to large crowds of students, in some cases, biting at the legs of several who were standing closest. Students screamed at points as mounted patrol rode up to the crowd, using the horses to push students along the road and to break up large crowds gathering along the street.
Kurz would not give the number of officers on hand for crowd control Wednesday night, but said several departments were involved, including state, UNH, Dover, Lee and Laconia police, and state liquor enforcement.
Durham Fire Department personnel were also checking capacity in the bars along Main Street, asking Libby’s to stop letting people in by the eighth inning because of the large turnout.
The streets were cleared by about 12:45 a.m. as the celebration tapered off. The postseason at UNH has been quiet compared to last year’s series against the Yankees, when students rioted. No arrests were made after Game 7 of the Red Sox-Yankees series and two arrests were made Wednesday night.
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