Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are known for packed streets, green beer and days-long parties on River and Congress Streets, but for more than 100 people, the festivities ended in the back of a patrol car.
Across a 72-hour period from March 13 through March 16, officers made 88 DUI arrests, along with 20 open container violations, six public drunkenness arrests and one citation for drinking from a prohibited container, according to totals compiled from the Chatham County Detention Center bookings.
- The majority of those arrests were made by the Georgia State Patrol’s (GSP) Savannah post, which reported 60 DUI arrests and 13 open container violations during the period.
- The Savannah Police Department (SPD) also reported six DUI arrests and five public drunkenness arrests.
Other agencies reported smaller numbers of arrests during the same timeframe.
- Chatham County Police Department (CCPD) made four DUI arrests.
- The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office reported four DUI arrests and two open container violations.
- Garden City Police Department, Pooler Police Department and Port Wentworth Police Department also made a handful of DUI arrests.
Arrests continued into St. Patrick’s Day and the hours afterward. During a separate 24-hour period from March 17 through March 18, officers made 20 additional DUI arrests, along with six open container violations, four public drunkenness arrests and one public indecency charge.
- GSP again accounted for the majority of DUI arrests during that period, reporting 13.
- SPD reported three DUI arrests, one open container violation, three public drunkenness arrests, one disorderly conduct charge and one public indecency charge.
- CCPD reported two DUI arrests.
- Garden City Police reported two DUI arrests, two open container violations and one public drunkenness arrest.
EMS responses
Emergency responders also handled dozens of medical calls related to the celebrations, according to a Chatham Emergency Services press release…