Publication date: October 02, 2022 • 46 minutes ago • 8 minutes read • 8 comments A large crowd gathered at Sandy Hill after the Panda game between Carleton University and the University of Ottawa on October 1, 2022. Police report multiple arrests and tickets issued. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia
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Ottawa police said seven people were arrested and investigations are underway after a large crowd gathered in Sandy Hill Saturday night after the Panda game, with police remaining in the neighborhood into the early hours of Sunday morning. City police said in a media release Sunday morning that they worked with Ontario Provincial Police and municipal partners to deal with what they said was “unacceptable, dangerous and, in some cases, criminal” behavior by revelers. After calls from the city and residents for a peaceful celebration of the annual football game between the teams of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, a large crowd began to gather on Somerset St. East on Saturday night at about 8:30 p.m., police said. According to police, “many” people in the crowd were belligerent, hostile and began committing illegal acts, including vandalism and throwing objects at police. The police service said it has video evidence and asked members of the public who may have video or photos of incidents related to the Panda game to contact police. In addition to the seven arrests, which include drunkenness and disorderly conduct charges, police said seven vehicles were towed, 88 provincial violation notices were issued for open alcohol, two traffic unit tickets were issued for loud mufflers and 76 parking tickets outside. Police said paramedics assisted in 12 incidents and were also issued 13 tickets for noise and one ticket for littering. The Ottawa Police Service has announced that it will provide the names of university students accused of criminal offenses to Carleton University and the University of Ottawa to enforce student conduct rules. Many noticed an increased police presence over last year’s force on Saturday, with many OPP officers augmenting their uniformed Ottawa Police Service counterparts in the area. The aim was to prevent a repeat of last year’s post-Panda game, when things got out of hand as thousands of attendees took to the streets, damaging property, including, in one case, overturning a car and trying to fix it. lighted. At dusk, it appeared that the large police force had had the desired effect, but the nervous inhabitants waited and watched, as they had done all day, fearing that the calm might break at any moment.
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Officers from the Ottawa Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and the City of Ottawa Bylaws and Regulatory Services were out in full force at Sandy Hill on Saturday. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia
Steve Higham, who lives on the block between Somerset Street East and Templeton Avenue – the eye of last year’s riot – erected a temporary fencing structure in front of his and two neighbours’ homes. Others on the same block hoped the yellow caution tape would be enough to deter the climbers and climbers who plagued them a year ago.
“Some of my neighbors find this a traumatic event and the neighborhood as a whole is going through this weekend with a lot of dread, anxiety and fear,” Higham said.
Why this particular block? Higham said a frat house that existed there about a decade ago received free beer from a brewery, setting a precedent.
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A sign painted on sheets and displayed on a Sandy Hill home offers a jab at Ottawa at Carleton. Photo by Bruce Deachman/Postmedia While the frat house is no more, the tradition is. “The only thing easier than the Carleton boys is their football team,” read a sign painted on a sheet and displayed for all to see. Another asked, “What does a Carleton grad uOttawa call?” (“Boss” was the answer given.) Higham added there was reason for “cautiously optimistic,” however, following criticism of police responses to both last year’s post-Panda activities and last winter’s takeover of parts of downtown Ottawa by the Freedom Convoy. . “This will be very motivating for the police to win,” Higham predicted. “Nobody wants to see the police out in riot gear. We just want them out and visible so people know they can’t carry alcohol and spill it on the street. Something has to happen before it gets out of hand. “The police didn’t have a (Panda Game) plan last year beyond 6pm, but we know a lot of planning has gone into it this year.”
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Ontario Provincial Police officers were also at the scene at the intersection of Somerset Street East and Russell Avenue in Sandy Hill Saturday afternoon. Photo by Bruce Deachman/Postmedia A convenience store worker, who asked not to be named, said last year’s post-Panda scene was “terrible.” “Students would come in here and just take things and then leave, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.” This year, he said, more police were on hand in the morning as many students arrived in the neighborhood for an organized pre-game party at Sandy Hill Arena. “The police came in and spoke to me and gave me a number to call if there were any problems.” A 79-year-old woman stood outside her property, shooing away Ottawa fans who got out of a car in front of her. “Go away,” he told them. “No party.” The woman said she hoped the police presence would be larger this year and hoped officers would stay until one or two in the morning.
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Caution tape surrounds a Sandy Hill Saturday afternoon. Photo by Bruce Deachman/Postmedia Another Russell Avenue resident put up yellow caution tape in front of her house to try to remind students to be respectful. “My partner and I were out for seven hours last year,” Meagan LaRose recalled. “I had eggs thrown at me and people screaming in my face. It was not a fun night. “And that’s not new,” he added. “They were in the news last year because they overturned a car, but in 2018 they were climbing on people’s terrace roofs and peeing in people’s gardens. And we don’t find that the university takes it seriously.” This year, he added, residents created a group chat through which they could reach out to others if they felt unsafe. “But there is nothing else we can do. And we don’t want to compete with anyone.” Party bombing in the area, LaRose added, “is one of the main things that drives people to leave the neighborhood.” Higham wasn’t going anywhere, at least not on Saturday night, as he and his family and a guest stayed home and waited to see what would happen. “It was like a zombie apocalypse last year,” he said, “and I’d be a lot more worried if I wasn’t here tonight.”
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Ontario Provincial Police officers were also at the scene at the intersection of Somerset Street East and Russell Avenue in Sandy Hill late Saturday afternoon. Photo by Bruce Deachman/Postmedia As what appeared to be Ottawa students made their way back to Sandy Hill from the afternoon game at Lansdowne Park — the Gee-Gees beat the Ravens 37-7 — they were met by a large turnout of first responders. Russell Avenue resident Dominic Salotti said he didn’t want to paint the issue strictly as residents vs. students, adding that some students he knew in the area were similarly scared by last year’s problems. “We all have the right to live in a healthy, vibrant and safe community, for ourselves and our children, like Glebe, like Rockcliffe, like Kanata. Like anywhere else,” Salotti said. “We hope everyone has fun and we hope everyone has fun respectfully. And we’re glad people are safe this year. “So far.” Third-year Ottawa political science/history student Mica Oestreich, who lives on Russell Avenue as she did last year, said she didn’t feel like this year’s larger police presence was out of line. “I thought last year the police might have made things worse by trying to herd everyone into one area. They had cordoned off the area and tried to squeeze everyone into a block. It was bodies on bodies,” Oestreich said. “I liked the strategy this year, with people spreading out over a wider area. This seems to be the biggest change and I think it’s a good change. “I can’t blame them for wanting to keep things safe after the end…
