July 22 (UPI) — Police issued 50 underage drinking citations and 90 people were hospitalized for excessive drinking during a concert by Chance the Rapper in Connecticut.
Police said about 21,000 people attended the concert Friday night at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford, with the crowd consisting mostly of people in their late teens or early 20s, NBC Connecticut reported.
Binge drinking at tailgate parties surrounding the venue was prevalent, police said.
Dozens of concertgoers were removed from the venue for “severe intoxication,” many of them underage, Hartford Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley told the Hartford Courant.
More than 70 officers were assigned to patrol the event, including an undercover underage drinking unit. Most of the underage drinking citations were made at tailgate parties surrounding the event.
“The fan base last night appeared to be in the late teens and early 20’s,” Foley said. “Tailgating, partying and excessive alcohol consumption was extremely prevalent.”
Foley posted videos of the pre-concert party on Twitter, showing thousands of young people, many of them apparently drunk. In one of the posts, he questioned whether parents were aware what their underage children were doing. “This is what it looks like,” he said.
