

By Eugene Paik and Tom Haydon/Star-Ledger Staff

NEW BRUNSWICK — A day after police officers clad in riot gear filed down Delafield Street to scatter a massive block party, residents in the New Brunswick neighborhood tried to return to normal.

Rutgers University officials declined to comment about the parties and the police response, the Associated Press reported this morning.

Few signs remained of the stand-off Sunday: Bits of broken glass were still on the ground, while several red plastic cups were knocked around by the cool breeze.

What wasn’t brushed aside, however, was the anger of some Delafield Street residents about the law enforcement response to what they said was a peaceful celebration on Saturday.

Yes, they said, the party atmosphere sometimes appeared to border on anarchy. But the ultimate problem wasn’t the party-goers, said the residents, who were mostly students at Rutgers University.

“It only turned into a riot when the cops came,” said Mike O’Reilly, a senior in business administration, who lives several houses from the epicenter of the disturbance.

By the time police arrived, the revelers were hours into an all-day block party dubbed “Delafest,” an apparent offshoot of the annual concert Rutgersfest, which was cancelled two years ago because of concerns it had become too rowdy.

New Brunswick Police Director Anthony Caputo described a dangerous and chaotic scene that greeted police officers. Between 300 and 400 people failed to disperse on Delafield Street, he said, and some started throwing bottles.

At one point, furniture was set on fire on the roadway. And some partygoers were seen on rooftops and awnings “that could have easily collapsed,” Caputo said.

Police equipped with riot shields and pepper spray were called to disperse a large party near Delafield Street in New Brunswick Saturday afternoon.

But Jeremy Abreu, a senior civil engineering student who lives on the street, said the mood was festive until police officers “got everyone riled up.” Partygoers had spilled onto Delafield Street by 2 p.m., he said, but they didn’t get rowdy until officers arrived.

An officer used a megaphone to urge the crowd to disperse, but that only stirred chants of “RU,” said Carter Henry, a senior communications major. It wasn’t until a few more officers arrived that the crowd moved back indoors, he said.

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That’s when the situation exploded. Officers managed to clear the crowd, but throngs of partygoers returned to the roadway once police left and began to set furniture on fire, said Abreu, adding that he did not participate in the chaos.

Around 5 p.m., residents said, police officers returned, this time larger in number and armed with riot gear and pepper spray. They then checked on several houses on the street, which a New Brunswick police spokesman said was needed to make sure fleeing revelers weren’t trespassing and causing more disturbances.

There were several arrests, Caputo said, but police didn’t reveal how many people were taken into custody. Some were charged with assaulting police officers, Caputo said.

“We are in the process of collecting videos on the internet,” he said. “We are going to be aggressively trying to identify people for possible criminal charges, particularly people starting fires in the middle of the street.”

Rutgers police also made several arrests at the block party, according to New Brunswick Police Capt. J.T. Miller, department spokesman.

Police and residents did not say if anyone was hurt in the incident.

“What started off as a leisurely day ended up as a catastrophic one,” Abreu said.

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Star-Ledger editorial: Out-of-control Rutgers block party had to be shut down by police