19 deputies break up unofficial 'Icebreaker' party denounced by EMU officials
The flier for Thursday night's party at Spirits.
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Geoffrey Fox said Friday a large number of people were inside Spirits Restaurant and Lounge during the T.R.U #TEAMEMU 2K12 Icebreaker party Thursday at Spirits. The Ypsilanti Township Fire Department eventually shut down the bar at 2111 Rawsonville Road because it was over capacity, Fox said.
“We proactively had staff in the area of Spirits Lounge due to ongoing issues with the bar and the fact that they were hosting another party,” Fox said.
EMU spokesman Geoff Larcom denounced the party earlier in the day, saying the university was not affiliated with the promotion in any way. He contended the #TEAMEMU slogan used for the party was an illegal use of EMU’s name.
Party organizers said the use of the Twitter hashtag was not an attempt to associate the school with the party and was simply a way to let the school’s students know about the event. Justin Schaffer, a promoter with Thee Team, noted the party’s fliers did not say the party was an official EMU event and never used the full Eastern Michigan University name.
Your group is not affiliated with Eastern Michigan and EMU is not sponsoring or affiliated with your party.
— Gloria Hage (@GloriaHage1) September 6, 2012
After AnnArbor.com’s story on the Icebreaker event was posted Thursday evening, EMU General Counsel Gloria Hage took to Twitter to tell organizers of Thursday’s party and one scheduled for Sept. 13 to cease and desist using the university’s name and logo to promote their parties.
Icebreaker events held at various bars and clubs in Washtenaw County have been known to result in fights and other incidents and Thursday’s event was no exception, police said.
Sheriff’s deputies were clearing the area when a fight started, causing three people to be arrested for disorderly conduct. Fox said another person was arrested on numerous warrants.
In addition, deputies issued parking tickets for various violations in the bar’s parking lot and will be sending information to the Liquor Control Commission regarding violations at the party.
In all, it took almost 20 officers to get everything under control.
“By the end of the night, we utilized 17 deputies and two command officers to gain control of the scene,” he said.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
JOHN728
Sun, Sep 9, 2012 : 1:08 p.m.
I am just amazed at how people put race as a part of the problem the problem is alcohol and large crowds our share of is a great man and he's black he's not racist I don't think race is the issue the issue is large crowds fuel with alcohol are known for trouble weather your white black green or purple you still get drunk and act like a fool so please don't make a reservation for a room
Jack
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 11:42 a.m.
I guess I'm supposed to know what an Icebreaker party is? While my guess would be a party to celebrate the new school year, good journalism would dictate an explanation. Are such parties new, a tradition, or what?
RJA
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 4:42 a.m.
Good Luck to all the parents paying for their child's education.
brian
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 4:28 a.m.
Little kiddies, time to grow up in life, you are not in High School anymore.
PineyWoodsGuy
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 2:55 a.m.
It was all beer and hard stuff. No wine. Therefore Susie was nowhere to be seen! EMU cops did not participate; it was out of their jurisdiction. As a Washtenaw taxpayer, I am glad to see Sheriff Jerry's troops in there ticketing underage drinkers. But, what about the legal rights of the tavern owner? Doesn't the tax-paying tavern owner have the legal right to serve alcohol to customers over the age of 21 who are Not intoxicated? Come on annarbor.com, please Explain!
Engineer
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 2:12 a.m.
Was Sue Martin there? Seemed like her kind of gig!
eyesofjustice
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 11:16 p.m.
They should of did the party at the pig!
Sam
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 8:48 p.m.
Fire dept shut the party down...what a double standard.. the U OF M stadium is over capacity for every football game and thats never a problem..straight case of double standard....also the police "proactively had staff in the area", just like they did on Saturday nights outside of Dream Nightclub in Ann Arbor..when the patronage was BLACK. There seems to be a predetrmination on the part of Washtenaw County offficers that once its a "black" crowd there is going to be problems.i'M a young black man and this entire situation smells of racial profiling.Like I always say..its ok to go to football games and applaud the "black"players for giving their all, but when the same players find a place to party...the place becomes a problem and history reveals this to be a fact.
OLDTIMER3
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 11:41 a.m.
Here we go with the racial complaints again. Where does the article state anything about the race of the people at the party. So you wouldn't know who was there unless you were there.
Silly Sally
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 10:59 a.m.
Did you ever wonder if there were reasons? When 1/3 of the "men" of a particular group between the ages of 18 to 30 are either in jail, prison, on probation, awaiting trial, or have been a repeat overnight guest of law enforcement, the odds are that there will be problems. In case you are wondering, the men of other groups who have been convicted of crimes is much less than with the exception of Hispanics.
thecompound
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 11:28 p.m.
I don't agree with all of the facts of your post, but i get the sentiment.
Angry Moderate
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 10:43 p.m.
"U OF M stadium is over capacity for every football game" Evidence, please.
HB11
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 10:40 p.m.
Oh, I didn't realize I was applauding only the black players at football games. I thought it was a team effort.
whatsupwithMI
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 8:02 p.m.
In the meantime, multiple for-profit underage University of Michigan drinking parties with unlimited alcohol consumption by underage persons face hardship restrictions due to keg registration. Details at Ann Arbor dot com....
Ron Granger
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 6:18 p.m.
"We proactively had staff in the area of Spirits Lounge due to ongoing issues with the bar and the fact that they were hosting another party," Fox said. "By the end of the night, we utilized 17 deputies and two command officers to gain control of the scene," he said. At what point did they lose "control of the scene"? Were there also undercover police in the bar? Were undercover officers involved in the fights? This raises a lot of questions about the allocation of police resources, at a time when Ypsi has a lot of serious crime. It looks like the University had the police shut down a private function in a licensed business.
Angry Moderate
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 6:36 p.m.
They don't have a license to exceed the building's fire capacity. Or a license to use EMU's trademarked logo, although that's not what the raid was about.
flyonthewall
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 6:03 p.m.
I'm a little confused. Spirits is in the old Lone Star Restaurant building. It is East of Rawsonville Rd, which is the dividing line between Washtenaw County and Wayne County. Could it be that the mailbox is on the West side of Rawsonville Rd and is then considered to be located in Washtenaw County?
YpsiGirl4Ever
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 3:40 a.m.
Spirits is in Ypsilanti Township. If a party at this location takes 17 + Deputies to brake up, maybe its' time to review Spirits liquor license.
greenstriper
Sat, Sep 8, 2012 : 12:06 a.m.
The county line runs along the north-south stretch of the I-94 service drive separating Spirits from the shopping center. Rawsonville Road is running northwest-ish along that stretch. Spirits is still within Ypsi Township, if only by a few dozen feet.
tom swift jr.
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 5:17 p.m.
" EMU General Counsel Gloria Hage took to Twitter to tell organizers of Thursday's party and one scheduled for Sept. 13 to cease and desist using the university's name and logo to promote their parties." I love this. EMU's attorney is using TWITTER to communicate a cease and desist demand!!!??? I bet that's gonna hold up in court. I'm guessing that a legal complaint that is more than 140 characters is going to take two tweets instead of just one. I suspect they'll be holding the trial on facebook.
thecompound
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 11:24 p.m.
but "holding the trial on Facebook" was pretty funny.
whatsupwithMI
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 8:13 p.m.
" I guess, ... I suspect..."..... just start off, perhaps, with " I'm pulling this outta my nether regions but here is my valuable opinion", why don'cha.
Angry Moderate
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 6:35 p.m.
Actually, it's a great idea. The people posted the ad for the party on Twitter--so EMU had their Twitter contact information, and could post a message to the Twitter page that is highly likely to be viewed by people who are attending the party (and parents of people who are attending the party.) What do you mean it won't "hold up" in court--there is no reason that a Twitter message can't be submitted into evidence (not that anything related to this incident will ever end up in court).
Fordie
Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 5:29 p.m.
I'm sure the tweet was as much to publicly clear its name as it was to get the organizers to stop. If they had sent a notarized letter, nobody but the organizers would know.