It was an interesting New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. According to reports, 82 people where charged with DUIs on New Year's Eve, another 57 on miscellanous charges and 2 were charged with felonies. I guess when it comes to celebrations, revelers in Las Vegas seem to think that over-the-top is the only way to go.
From the R-J:
Several dozen party-goers spent the night sobering up behind bars after the Nevada Highway Patrol used all available troopers to help police Las Vegas' New Year's celebration. Eighty-two people were arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs -- far more than the 12 arrested by state troopers last year. Another 57 were arrested on miscellaneous charges and two were arrested on felonies.
Trooper Chelita Rojas said the department had every trooper from its Southern Command, plus some from its Northern Command, on valley freeways making traffic stops. "There were a lot more officers on the road able to pull people over," Rojas said. Las Vegas police also had all of its 3,241 officers working on New Year's Eve. Some were operating DUI checkpoints, but the department did not release the number of people arrested. But it was a relatively peaceful celebration for the Las Vegas Valley. Law enforcement agencies reported no slayings or fatal accidents on New Year's Eve or the morning after. In the Reno area, authorities arrested 27 people for driving under the influence on New Year's Eve, down slightly from last year. But the number of people taken into protective custody for intoxication was up to 32, compared with 26 last year. Additionally, the Washoe County Jail reported five arrests were made for domestic battery. In all, 84 people were booked into jail over a 12-hour period beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. In Las Vegas, about 315,000 people from out of town rang in the New Year on the Strip and downtown -- the largest such party west of the Mississippi, according to tourism officials. That's an 8 percent jump from the year before. In downtown Las Vegas, officials gave out 5,000 more wrist bands to people than last year to watch the various tribute bands under the Fremont Street Experience. Along the Strip on New Year's Eve, the crowd was still streaming in at 11:30 p.m., with hundreds of people walking over the Flamingo Road overpass at Interstate 15. They were greeted by a rocking performance by a group playing bongos between Caesars Palace and Bellagio. Some visitors came to forget their troubles, some to see off a 2009 that has been tough on many, and yet others came for, well, different reasons. Clad in traditional Scottish wear, including a green plaid kilt, 26-year-old Jackson Murray, from Scotland, said he and friends traveled across the pond because they enjoyed the hit 2009 comedy, "The Hangover," in which a group of friends wake up in their Caesars Palace hotel room not remembering anything that happened during the raucous night before. Asked where he was staying, Jackson said, "Caesars, obviously."