Lincoln’s police chief handed the Indian Center's executive director a ticket for maintaining a disorderly house Monday evening when he met with the center's board to talk about Saturday's out-of-control tailgate party.
Chief Jim Peschong said he encouraged the board to establish and enforce rules that will stop the underage drinking and overconsumption of alcohol that is occurring on home game weekends at the Indian Center.Â
"We talked about the problem," Clyde Tyndall, the Indian Center's executive director, said following the meeting. He said Peschong brought with him video of Saturday's events taken from a Nebraska State Patrol helicopter.
Tyndall said the board reached a short-term decision on policy changes regarding the tailgate area for this Saturday's game against Illinois. Those changes were to be announced in a press release on Tuesday.
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Permanent changes, Tyndall said, would only come after a meeting including the center's full board.
Lincoln police marshaled 33 officers, eight Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputies and nine State Patrol troopers to control a crowd of 2,500 to 4,000 tailgaters partying on Indian Center property before Saturday’s Husker football game against Miami, Peschong said.
Officers arrested 13 people, issued over 25 citations and spent three hours clearing the crowd from “the res,†as tailgaters call the center at 1100 Military Road.

Disorderly house citations like the one issued Tyndall are typically used to encourage landlords to manage their property, with fines ranging from $250 to $500.
Changes to Indian Center operations could include limiting the tailgate area to only those who enter in vehicles. Currently, the area is open to anyone who wants to pay to get in, Peschong said.
"They recognize they have to alter this climate," Peschong said after Monday's hourlong meeting with the board. "And they recognize it is not going to be easy."
Even before Saturday's melee, police have dealt with a growing number of complaints and problems stemming from tailgate parties at the Indian Center, including alcohol-induced medical emergencies, overconsumption and minors consuming alcohol, Peschong said.
Police sent letters to Indian Center officials in 2011 and 2012, inviting the center's staff to a meeting with other North Bottoms landowners about making sure people were drinking responsibly on their property, Peschong said.
“We put all the property owners on notice,†he said.
"You can't have a party, collect the money and be just, 'Out of sight, out of mind,'" Peschong added.
The city does not have the police officers necessary to patrol tailgate parties on game days, although LPD is willing to work with the Indian Center, Peschong said.
If the situation doesn't improve, the city could issue citations to board members or go to court to have the tailgating activities shut down as a public nuisance, he said.
"I don't want to do that," Peschong said. "But we can't have what happened on Saturday happen again."
Trouble started when would-be partiers arrived about 4 p.m. in three buses to tailgate in their reserved spot, the chief said. That upset people already in the area. They hurled beer cans and bottles at the buses before kicking, denting and rocking them.
When police officers arrived, tailgaters did much the same to their cruiser, forcing them to retreat and call for backup, Peschong said.
One officer was hit in the head with a beer can that was three-quarters full. Doctors treated and released her from the hospital, Peschong said. Police arrested the man they think hurled the can: 27-year-old Abraham Banuelos of Omaha.
Indian Center staff on Saturday charged $15 per parking spot and $5 for individuals to come in and party, he said.