The booking area at Gate 13 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was busy Saturday as police forced 109 people to leave the stadium during the UF-University of Alabama football game - in onecase, after Tasering.
Alachua County Sheriff's Office Deputy Brandon Roberts was working security in Section 39 of the stadium during the game when he saw a crowd stand up and look toward Section 37, according to Sgt. Todd Kelly, ASO public information
officer.
Here's what happened according to Kelly: Roberts saw a man - later identified as Dane Iturrioz - shove another man into several nearby people. The deputy had previously warned
Iturrioz to control his behavior in the stands and
not to be too rowdy.
When Roberts headed toward the men to handle the situation, people in the area pointed at Iturrioz and said things like ‘That's him,' Kelly said.
Roberts asked Iturrioz to come with him, but the 22-year-old refused and told him he hadn't done anything wrong.
When the deputy grabbed his arm to escort him out of the stands, Iturrioz tensed his arm and tried to pull away from him. Roberts then got him on the ground and called for assistance from other officers, Kelly said.
While Roberts tried to restrain and handcuff him, Iturrioz grabbed his arms and hands to prevent him from doing so.
An unidentified "Good Samaritan" from the crowd held down one of Iturrioz's arms to help Roberts, Kelly said.
A University Police officer who wasn't named in an ASO incident report sprayed pepper spray into Iturrioz's face, but it had little effect.
ASO Deputy Thomas Thueson then placed his Taser at the small of Iturrioz's back and used it until he could be restrained, he said.
After that, Iturrioz refused to stand up and walk on his own. Four officers had to carry him to the booking area in Gate 13 by his arms and legs.
Iturrioz, 22, of 110 NW 10th St. Apartment B in Gainesville, is listed as a student on the ASO report. The document doesn't specify whether he is a UF student and his name isn't in the UF Phonebook directory.
He was arrested and taken to the Alachua County Jail, Kelly said. He was charged with resisting with violence, a third-degree felony, and disorderly intoxication, a second-degree
misdemeanor, Kelly said.
Saturday's game had the highest number of ejections for any home game this season, based on the numbers provided by UPD reports about the previous games.
Seven of those ejections were arrests, two of which were for UF students, according to a University Police Department press release.
These were the numbers of ejections for the other home games this season: 53 for the game against Florida Atlantic University, 58 for the University of Alabama at Birmingham game and 94 for the one against the University of
Tennessee.
The only home game from the 2010 season that beat Saturday's match in terms of the number of ejections was the October 2010 game against Louisiana State University with 119 ejections.
The Alabama game also topped the other 2011 home games in the number of arrests, according to UPD reports. Compared to the 2010 season's home games, however, Saturday's match only beat the game against Miami University (Ohio) in
arrests.
Of the seven arrests made at the Alabama game, there were three for disorderly conduct, two for trespassing after receiving a warning, one for underage possession of alcohol and one for resisting arrest without violence.
The largest number of ejections was for intoxication, for which 36 people were kicked out of the stadium.
Of the remaining ejections, there were 30 for alcohol possession, seven for disorderly conduct, nine for standing on the bleachers, eight for sitting in the wrong section of the stadium, six for not having tickets, three for smoking, two for ticket switching and one for trespassing after
receiving a warning.
Because of a policy change this year, those who were ejected for alcohol possession in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will usually receive civil citations instead of being arrested.
Police were busy handling problems before the football game as well.
An undercover Gainesville Police Department officer was working with Debbie Gay, the University Athletic Association's licensing manager, Saturday when they found two men who were selling unlicensed, vulgar Gators T-shirts on University Avenue, according to Cpl. Angelina Valuri, public information officer for the Gainesville Police Department.
The shirts sported the phrase "Florida Fucking
Gators," she said.
Because "Florida Gators" is a registered trademark, the unauthorized use of the term is a violation of Florida state statutes.
The men selling the shirts were Sean Christian Rouse, a 23-year-old from Albany, Ga., and Jeremy Arthur Matlow, a 26-year-old from Tallahassee, Valuri said.
Valuri said they had 83 shirts and were selling them for $20 each, bringing the total value of the merchandise to $1,660.
Rouse and Matlow were arrested at about 4:30 p.m. at 1620 W University Ave. and were taken to the Alachua County Jail.
They were charged with vending goods with counterfeit labels, which is a felony.
