BUFFETT BUS SIDESWIPES OFFICER AFTER CONCERT AT MERRIWEATHER From the August 27, 1998 Columbia Flier
At a Glance
The Jimmy Buffett concerts at Merriweather Post Pavilion last weekend were anything but a cheeseburger in paradise for local police.
As many as four officers were treated at Howard County General Hospital for minor injuries, including one who was hit by the Buffett tour bus Aug. 22, Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna said.
Police made nearly 50 arrests, broke up numerous fights and issued more than 110 alcohol citations, Bellido de Luna said. Close to 50 officers worked the rowdy concerts, which drew thousands of partygoers to the pavilion parking lots Friday and Saturday, he said.
At about 10:40 p.m. Aug. 22, the bus - which Buffett was not on - was trying to leave the area by way of South Entrance Road, which was closed to traffic at Little Patuxent Parkway, police said. Officer Richard Rutledge was directing pedestrian traffic when the bus turned down the road and refused to stop, Bellido de Luna said.
The bus struck Rutledge's left arm and spun him around so that his right side slammed against the side of the bus, Bellido de Luna said. The officer was bruised and scraped and has been on leave since the incident, police said.
State police stopped the bus on Interstate 95 in Perryville and plan to charge the driver with reckless and negligent driving, failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer and crossing a double-yellow line, Bellido de Luna said.
At least one officer was treated for cuts received while breaking up fights outside the concert, and one officer was treated after he came in contact with someone's blood, police said.
"It's one of the most unruly crowds of the Merriweather season, if not the most unruly," police spokesman Sgt. Morris Carroll said.
Concertgoers began arriving before noon in campers and busses to tailgate on the Merriweather Post parking lot, police said. The lots were full by 4:30 p.m. Aug 22, and cars were sent to the Mall in Columbia, Carroll said.
Open containers are not allowed at the mall, and merchants were concerned about the tailgating in the lot.
The worst of the problems occurred after the concert began each night. Many people who did not have tickets remained in the pavilion parking lot to party, Carroll said. Police had to don their riot helmets to avoid being hit by rocks and bottles while breaking up fights and trying to keep the peace, Bellido de Luna said.
Jean Parker, general manager of Merriweather Post Pavilion, said the problems were no different from what occurs at any large event in the United States. She admitted, however, that people without tickets posed a problem.
"We are working on ways to completely mitigate that," Parker said. "We do have a good working relationship with the police, and we work in tandem."
Parker said Buffett sold out both nights and is consistently one of the financial highlights of the Merriweather season.
Buffett's tour manager couldn't be reached for comment.
---Betsy Stein
Unofficially, my comments are as follows. Ernie and I were at the concert on Friday, August 21, and EVERYTHING this newspaper reports is true. We both love Jimmy, but the horrors of this experience at Merriweather have all but turned us away from even attending any more concerts. The audience on the lawn was totally rude and obnoxious. Jean Parker said above that "the problems were no different from what occurs at any large event in the United States." Well, Jean, I suggest you get out of your little world at that horrible concert hall and GO to some of these other events across the United States because we have gone to plenty of concerts and NONE of them were ever anything like the horrible characters you have there in Columbia at Merriweather Post Pavilion. NONE on the concerts I have ever gone to come close to the rudeness I experienced there in Columbia, MD, and never again will we grace your property. Merriweather Post Pavilion will be shunned by everyone I can get the word to. Any concert hall sponsoring Jimmy Buffett would be a better place to see and hear him rather than Merriweather, so if you don't want to waste your money, and you DO want to have an enjoyable evening, stay as far away from this place as possible because it was an absolutely HORRIBLE experience.
