By
Katie Clark
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Fourth Ave. shopkeepers report 'thousands of dollars' in broken windows, fire damage
Some business owners on North Fourth Avenue blame area bars and lack of police presence for the riots that occurred Monday night.
"(The police) did more early on until the bars closed," said Kate Randall, co-owner of Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.
"There should have been big police pressure until beyond the bars closed."
Antigone Books suffered two broken windows - which Randall had to cover with plywood - and she doesn't know how much they will cost to replace.
"Probably a couple thousand," she said, adding that she hopes the windows will be fixed by tomorrow.
Randall did not know about the damage to her store until she received a call from the Tucson Police Department at 1:30 a.m.
Crowds, who were in the area to watch the University of Arizona men's basketball team's play in the NCAA title game, turned angry after the team's loss to Duke University.
Dissapointed fans flipped over cars, broke windows and set vehicles and buildings on fire, resulting in 43 reports of damage so far, according to TPD.
"It was horrifying that people could get into that mob mentality," Randall said.
Randall also said that the drastic plans made by TPD only made the atmosphere more tense and hostile.
"The police had such huge plans," she said. "And such drastic closures."
Lt. Bill Plummer of TPD was still patrolling the area yesterday afternoon, speaking to business owners about the previous night's problems.
"We want to talk to them about what happened, see what we can work better next time," he said.
Randall added that the crowds generated by bars also contributed to the rioting.
"There was so much alcohol, so many bars," she said. "They should be willing to close when it's going to be bad."
Brian Cummings, owner of O'Malley's, 247 N. Fourth Ave., and The Hut, 305 N. Herbert Ave. - which suffered severe fire damage - said that his bars had a no re-entry policy to keep fans under control.
"When you leave, you can't come back," he said.
Despite his policy, Cummings said that he has already been threatened with a lawsuit from another store in the area, the name of which he would not disclose.
Cummings also said the individuals who caused the most damage were not customers of the bars and likely came to the area to make trouble.
"Who goes to a bar wearing a ski mask?" he said, referring to a photograph in yesterday's Arizona Daily Wildcat of a man wearing a mask while smashing in a car window.
Cummings, who was forced to close The Hut because of the damage, doesn't know yet how much he will have to spend in repairs.
"It's going to cost many thousands of dollars," he said.
He said that he hopes his insurance will pay for most of it, but doesn't know what sort of civil-disobedience coverage his insurance provides.
Randall, who said the celebration after UA's championship win in 1997 was "mostly happy," hopes that next year, things will be more under control.
"I would hate to see it become a tradition," she said.
