Excise officers arrest 188 in Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) - Excise officers arrested 188 on 231 charges in Bloomington this weekend.

Indiana State Excise Police officers made the arrests while patrolling around Indiana University in Bloomington.

On Thursday, officers arrest 18 people on 23 charges, including nine for illegal possession or consumption of alcohol. Four were arrested for possession of false ID and two for furnishing alcohol to a minor.

On Friday, officers made 50 arrests on 67 charges, including 40 for illegal possession or consumption of alcohol. Five were arrested for furnishing alcohol to a minor, three for possession of false ID, two for public intoxication, and one for resisting arrest and 15 other charges, police say.

Saturday brought a larger number of arrests. Officers arrested 106 minors for illegal consumption or possession of alcohol, including eight juveniles less that 18 years old. The youngest was 15.

Seven minors were arrested for public intoxication. Three minors were cited for possession of false ID and one juvenile was cited for possession of tobacco.

Two adults were charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor and two more adults were arrested on drug related charges. One arrest was of a man who was found with nine marijuana cigarettes.

Two other adults were arrested for resisting law enforcement and six other people were cited for a variety of charges.

Police say Saturday’s arrests are up from 34 minors arrested during Indiana University’s first home football game on Sept. 1.

Officers say they have never before arrested 110 people on 129 charges during tailgating at any Indiana college or university.

Following the game, officers made more arrests. An additional ten people were arrested on 12 charges.

Indiana State Excise Police officers were working in Bloomington this weekend as part of the Intensified College Enforcement program launched last semester.

The ICE initiative aims to reduce underage access to and use of alcohol at six college campuses: Ball State, Butler, Indiana, Indiana State, Notre Dame and Purdue.

"Regulating the distribution of alcohol is crucial to public safety," Superintendent Matt Strittmatter said. "Our agency will continue to ensure the access of alcohol to minors is limited."