La Crosse police release arrest numbers for Oktoberfest

Officers called out more than 1,200 times during the Fest

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — La Crosse police had a busy weekend during Oktoberfest.

Three weeks after the festivities wrapped up they’re out with their arrest numbers.

Officers were called out more than 1,200 times between Thursday evening and late Sunday night. Sixty people were arrested and 326 citations were issued. More than half of the citations were alcohol related.

Those are all up from last year’s opening weekend but those numbers include one less day of Oktoberfest.

Police say they saw a lot of large parties in the campus area.

“Those were mainly being attended by the underage people in our community or that had came into our community, which resulted in a lot of underage alcohol violations, public consumption violations, they were urinating in public, and littering,” said La Crosse Police Department Sergeant Randy Rank.

They’re still figuring out how many people were turned away from the Mississippi River by Operation River Watch.

Police also rescued two people from a boat that struck a submerged tree in front of Riverside Park.

The La Crosse Police Department provided the media with the following graphic: