Lincoln Indian Center official ticketed for unruly tailgate party


A sign directs visitors to the Lincoln Indian Center. Photo from Facebook

The executive director of the Lincoln Indian Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, was ticketed for allowing the facility's parking lot to be used for a tailgate party that got out of hand.

Nearly 50 officers were sent to the parking lot on Saturday in response to a large and unruly crowd that gathered for football game at the nearby University of Nebraska-Lincoln stadium.

Police estimate between 2,500 to 4,000 people were in the parking lot -- which has been nicknamed "The Rez" by students, some of them underage drinkers. Some 13 people were arrested, over 25 citations were issued and one officer was sent to the hospital after being hit in the head with a can of beer.

“We aren’t ‘the res’ as the students call us,” executive director Clyde Tyndall, who was cited for maintaining a disorderly house, told The Lincoln Journal Star. “We are a private nonprofit that depends on the revenue from sponsoring tailgates.”

The center is taking emergency measures to ensure the situation doesn't happen again. Another game is scheduled this Saturday so police plan to be on alert.

"You can't have a party, collect the money and be just, 'Out of sight, out of mind,'" Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong told the paper.

Get the Story:
Indian Center leader ticketed for unruly tailgate party (The Lincoln Journal Star 9/23)
Concerned council members toured troubled tailgate weeks ago (The Lincoln Journal Star 9/23)
Party organizer 'ashamed' of rioting fans; Indian Center planning changes for future tailgates (The Lincoln Journal Star 9/22)
Police break up tailgate at Indian Center; more than a dozen arrested (The Lincoln Journal Star 9/21)

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