PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — Put-in Bay's downtown region was filled with 19,000 people, reports of drunken behavior and multiple fights happening at the same time Saturday.
Put-in-Bay Police Chief James Kimble sent out a call to neighboring departments requesting help, and the chaos had to be quelled by SWAT teams from three different counties providing assistance.
WTOL 11 went to the island Tuesday to speak to residents. One person said she felt so unsafe, she went back home to Akron. While WTOL is keeping her name and workplace anonymous, she works as a bartender in Put-in-Bay.
She said the situation Saturday was unlike any she had ever seen on the island. Guests trashed the village, barked orders at waitstaff and carried open alcohol bottles in public places, all while fights were breaking out all the way to the Jet Express ferry, with one group of people even bumping into her as she boarded.
The bartender said she did not see any Put-in-Bay police officers during the ordeal, and by the time the SWAT team arrived around 8:15 p.m., she had already decided she had enough and left the island to escape to her mom's house in Akron for the night.
"I think if anything, it was a lot of stress," she said. "Having to deal with crowds of people that were being disrespectful, not just to the island but to us. They were coming in, demanding things, feeling entitled. Not everyone was like that, just a select few, but it was rough."
WTOL reached out to Kimble for comment on the incident, but he was out of the office Tuesday. WTOL has also requested body cam video, arrest records and police reports from Saturday.
A village of Put-in-Bay spokesperson provided WTOL 11 with the following statement regarding the request:
"Body camera footage from this past weekend is still being processed and may take several days. In addition, once processed, a separate review will be needed prior to release as a public record to ensure protected information is not released. Additionally, police reports are still being prepared and not yet finalized."