By
Blake Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Windshield of patrol car smashed during the incident
University police arrested 24 people occupying one apartment Friday morning at a campus residence hall and had the windshield to a patrol car smashed after receiving a disturbing the peace call, reports stated.
Police went to Sky View Apartments, 1050 E. Eighth St., at about 1 a.m. after a community assistant reported loud noise and alcohol consumption in 18-year-old resident Brian Moore's room.
When officers arrived, they found Moore and 20 other underage students, three underage non-students, and nearly 50 unopened beer cans in Moore's apartment, reports stated.
Moore, an undeclared freshman, was the only Sky View resident arrested.
According to police reports, many of the arrestees said they drank alcohol at another party but denied drinking at Sky View.
Police confirmed the identity of all people in the apartment and issued minor in possession citations to each of them.
"It is an unusually high number of arrests made a single gathering," said Sgt. Mike Smith, public information officer for the University of Arizona Police Department.
One of the people arrested, UA aerospace engineering freshman Justin Phillips, 20, of the 800 block of East Wetmore Road, told police he was not drinking.
"I smell like it because they spilled it all over me," Phillips stated in police reports.
While at the scene, a UAPD patrol car got its front windshield smashed. Police do not have any suspects at this time and are unsure whether the people arrested were responsible for the damage.
"We now refer it to the Dean of Students for any type of administrative action that is required," Smith added.
Besides getting arrested for minor in possession of alcohol, all of the students involved that live in residence halls could also be subject to conduct proceedings which may result in further disciplinary action, according to the UA Residence Life community standards.
The conduct hearings could be called for disruptive behavior, underage drinking in a residence hall, and possibly for violating the limit on people allowed in a single apartment.
"The punishment really depends on the situation," said Patrick Call, associate director for UA Residence Life. "It varies anywhere from a warning to removal."
Arizona fire codes and UA Residence Life policies restrict the number of people allowed in an apartment as well, but Call said it is unclear whether any policies were violated because the limits vary from residence hall to residence hall.
The people arrested were released after promising to appear in court, reports stated.
