Street riot at University of Delaware

Hundreds of students took to the streets of Newark last night after what appears to be a loosely organized party.

In years past, college students would take to the streets to demonstrate their displeasure with the nation’s decision to go to war, to fight against the draft, or even more recently, celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden.

But last night, students at the University of Delaware took to the streets, not to make a statement, but to party.  Hundreds flooded from S. College Ave. onto Main St.  They blocked the street, banged on cars, and even climbed on some vehicles.  

Newark Police say the incident stemmed from a party in the 400 block of S. College Ave.  When officers arrived, they found a number of people urinating and trespassing through other yards in the area.  They arrested the residents of the house, Anthony Iadisernia of Jackson, New Jersey and Evan Touzzoli of Trumbull, Ct.

Iadisernia and Touzzoli are both students at U.D.  They face charges including underage consumption of alcohol, too much noise after 9 p.m., and failure to obtain a special event permit.

In multiple videos posted on YouTube, students can be seen chanting “UD” and “USA” as part of the impromptu street party.  In one clip, a young man can be seen climbing on the back of a Ford Mustang.  The driver, apparently trying to get away from the riot, accelerates, sending the young man tumbling off the back of the car and onto the street.

Property damage caused during the incident included several damaged cars, knocked down trash cans and damaged signs.  Police don’t have a full tally of the dollar amount of the damage.  Although several pictures of a burning car have been posted on social media sites, Newark Police say they have not received any reports about a car fire.

75 officers from U.D, New Castle County Police and Delaware State Police arrived on the scene to help disperse the crowd.  

Police say they don’t expect a repeat Tuesday night, but they have scheduled extra officers to be on duty just in case.