Bills fans’ early exit from lousy game seen as helping to cut arrests in half
A dismal Buffalo Bills performance Sunday in Ralph Wilson Stadium might have yielded an unexpected benefit: just 14 arrests in and around the stadium.
“That’s about half [of] what it’s been running,” Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said Monday. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
Upon further review, Benz suggested that early departures by fans may have been the reason.
Topping the game day blotter was the arrest of three Canadian men who “borrowed” a golf cart to negotiate the parking lot before the opening kickoff. Benz said a Bills employee reported the theft, and the three were taken into custody after they pulled up at Gate 1.
Bryan W. Bendo, 23, of Toronto; Steven L. Henry, 27, of Sarnia, Ont.; and James M. Hester, 46, of Mississauga, Ont., were each charged with grand larceny, a felony, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor. They were released after posting $400 bail each.
The remainder of the arrests — including one man from Ohio, one from Pennsylvania, five Western New Yorkers and four more Canadians — were on the more typical charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, resisting arrest, exposure and alcohol possession by a person under 21.
Meanwhile, state police timed their traffic detail in the Southtowns to coincide with postgame traffic. Troopers released details about two of their three drunken driving-related arrests:
•Ethan T. Barrett, 20, of Bullis Road, Marilla, was pulled over for speeding on Route 400 in West Seneca and was taken into custody on a charge of driving while intoxicated. A test indicated a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, the minimum amount for drunken driving.
•John L. Rotoli, 47, of Rochester, was pulled over on Route 20 in the Town of Orchard Park because of a malfunctioning brake light. He also was arrested on a DWI charge; a test indicated a blood alcohol level of 0.13 percent.
Troopers said they also issued 37 tickets, including 10 seat belt violations, between 4 and 7 p. m. Sunday.
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