Tybee Island police made 42 arrests during Orange Crush. The annual unofficial event organized via social media drew thousands of young people to the beach Saturday.
The crowd was larger than last year’s, with 13,000 cars entering the island Saturday, said Tybee Island Police Chief Bob Bryson.
Police responded to 157 calls for service and initiated 93 case reports.
“We stayed in the crowd all day and all night through it,” Bryson said.
Click here to view a slideshow of photos from the beach cleanup Sunday morning.
There were several arrests for public indecency, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Fourteen people were arrested by Tybee police for drug possession, five on felony charges. Police seized five guns,one of which was taken from a juvenile, Bryson said
“Just pretty much a lot of behavior that was in violation of public indecency laws,” Bryson said. “... There was a lot of marijuana. It was just blowing through the wind all day long, but we made a lot of arrests with it.”
About 30 Tybee police officers were out Saturday, and were assisted by the Georgia State Patrol, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, Savannah-Chatham police, GBI, the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team and undercover Savannah State University police. The Chatham Emergency Management Agency provided its mobile command center and a helicopter. Arrests were made by other agencies as well, Bryson said.
Tybee police worked nine wrecks. Other wrecks, including a midday four-car crash on the Lazaretto Creek Bridge handled by GSP and a wreck on U.S. 80 worked by metro police, contributed to traffic onto the island being backed up west of the Bull River Bridge.
Litter, too, was an issue. Police issued 10 littering citations, but the beach and streets near the pier and into some neighborhoods were still hit with trash, said Mayor Jason Buelterman.
That was disheartening, he said, after the amount of publicity generated following a YouTube video showing trash on the beach the morning after last year’s Orange Crush.
“I was really disappointed at how much trash was left on the beach — disappointed at the people who came out,” Buelterman said. “Most of the people I met were nice, but there were some who acted irresponsibly and we had to deal with that.”
The mayor said it was uplifting to see volunteers were out cleaning the beach during the evening Saturday and as late as 10 or 11 p.m.
Early Sunday, Savannah State University students, the Tybee Beautification Association, residents and other volunteers were out by the beach and parking lots picking up trash.
“It was cleaned up a lot quicker (than 2012),” Buelterman said Sunday evening. “The volunteers who were out at night focused on the tide line. What was left above the tide line was removed this morning.”
Once parking lots were at capacity, visitors were parking in the city’s right of way in residential areas. Tybee workers issued about 400 parking tickets Saturday, Buelterman said. Trash was being left where people parked and in between parking spots and the beach, he said.
Though the amount of traffic coming onto the island was comparable to that of Fourth of July, Buelterman said, trash left on the beach was more condensed as the majority of revelers Saturday stayed near the pier.
“This seems really condensed to certain areas,” he said. “A lot of glass bottles and big stuff — tables, tents, chairs, coolers that are just left there. I’m not talking a beer can or a Coke can. You can stand there for 15 minutes cleaning up one little spot.”
In addition to the volunteers, for whom the mayor said he was grateful, crews with the city’s Department of Public Works were also out Saturday night and early Sunday morning working to clear the pier and streets.
Bryson, who has been with the police department 13 years, said he couldn’t remember a day with more traffic or more arrests.
“I hate that this has to happen,” he said. “The city of Tybee Island doesn’t deserve this.”
Buleterman said he wants to help ensure that more law enforcement officers can help with Orange Crush in the future.
“One of the main takeaways is it’s on us to work with our county and state elected officials to bring more officers here to help support us,” he said. “... It’s really just like any other beach community that deals with a large crowd of spring breakers. They make sure to have extra law enforcement on hand, which is exactly what we’re doing.”