Figuring out who threw a wild North Bottoms tailgate last weekend has puzzled Lincoln police since an aerial photo of the packed pregame party went viral on social media.
LPD dispatched to party w hundreds of ppl. Urinating, vomiting & causing large disturbance. Can't watch game from jail/detox
— Lincoln Police (@Lincoln_Police)
Officers busted the party and three others, each with crowds of about 200 people, on Sept. 16. But unlike the others, police say they haven't been able to identify the hosts of the blowout in a fenced-in backyard near 10th and Claremont streets.
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Lincoln Police Capt. Anthony Butler said officers found underage drinkers with blood-alcohol contents well above the legal limit to drive, but no sign of the residents who let them inside the gates.Â
"Everyone said, 'It ain't me' and then left."
So Butler and the department's northwest team, which he supervises, have spent the past week trying to determine just who the owners are.
The property at 1014 Claremont St. belongs to a Nevada-based company, Revolution Properties LLC.
Nebraska state records list the company's main local office as a house, recently sold, in Lincoln's Highlands neighborhood, and Nevada records give the names of two managers and a post office box.Â
What happened at 10th and Claremont streets Saturday is part of a , in which University of Nebraska-Lincoln students who live at homes in the area rent out their backyards, often to other students, to throw parties.Â
"They have nothing to lose, in their minds," Butler said.
But the 10th and Claremont party was beyond ordinary to the Nebraska State Patrol helicopter pilots who often cruise above north Lincoln on Husker football gamedays, said patrol spokesman Cody Thomas.
Thomas, who rode along in the patrol's helicopter, said the scene below reminded his pilot of a larger, wilder view three years ago when thousands of people , rocking a bus and throwing beer bottles at officers.
Police that day arrested more than a dozen people, including one person for assaulting an officer. The Indian Center later banned alcohol on its grounds.
Northwest team officers aren't trying to crack down on gameday fun in North Bottoms, Butler said: "We've never preached 'No parties.'"
But he wants property holders and partygoers to be responsible, he said.Â
The landlord for a house down the street called police to his own property the same Saturday after learning about an out-of-hand party with about 150 guests. Police cleared that yard, together with the residents.
That's a credit to his team's outreach to North Bottoms landlords this summer and a hopeful sign that collaboration between police and homeowners can keep parties from spiraling out of control, Butler said.
Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister said excessive drinking at the parties leaves some people unable to care for themselves and at risk of getting hurt.Â
Many of the drinkers are underage and drink more hard liquor than their bodies can tolerate, Butler said.
"The potential is there for some really bad things to happen."