STURGIS, S.D. – Day number one of the Sturgis Rally is in the books, and the Sturgis Police Department and Meade County Sheriff’s Office have released their day one stats.
For Sturgis Police, drugs and parking were the two biggest issues Friday. Sturgis Police made five felony drug arrests and eight misdemeanor drug arrests. Eight people were arrested for D.U.I. – down one from this date last year.
Illegal parking, an annual problem at the Rally, continued to be one Friday as police gave out 10 citations. That is up two from last year on day one.
Overall, Sturgis Police reported 15 non-traffic related arrests and 9 traffic-related arrests. The traffic-related arrests were down 26 from day one last year. Non-traffic related arrests were down 7.
In all, Sturgis Police handled 194 calls for service Friday; down 24 from last year.
For Meade County, the Sheriff’s Office reported 186 calls for service on day one. There were 66 traffic stops, 8 D.U.I. arrests and 2 injury crashes.
The Sheriff’s Office reported 34 people being booked into the Meade County Jail.
Officials also they are having a problem with people riding scooters intoxicated this year. In a social media post, the Meade County Sheriff’s Office said:
“Here’s the kicker—despite all the rain, the deputies found plenty of folks more interested in riding scooters while clearly intoxicated. Trends suggest more drinking, found on fewer traffic stops—so maybe people are just getting tipsy and brave, or maybe that whiskey’s working overtime. Cheers to that, right?
