In two separate incidents that occurred close to each other, two
men were arrested for climbing the fence surrounding a police
compound at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, police said.
In two separate incidents that occurred close to each other, two men were arrested for climbing the fence surrounding a police compound at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, police said.
About 5:15 p.m., Shane Currier, 23, scaled the chain-link fence that walled off a small makeshift police compound near the Miller Avenue entrance to the festival, only to end up in the middle of a group of police officers, Sgt. Jim Gillio said.
Police said that Currier was climbing from the levy side of the compound, as though he had been on the outside of the festival gates. Currier said he was inside the compound, and being both a bit intoxicated and disoriented due to sun exposure, he climbed the fence in hopes of getting out of the park. Currier said he had been separated from his wife and father-in-law and was anxious to reunite with them.
Police did not know why Currier was climbing the fence, but noticed that he was drunk and arrested him for public intoxication, Gillio said. Police did not arrest Currier for trespassing, however.
Then, about 5:36 p.m., another man climbed the compound’s fence, Gillio said.
“It was during one of our briefings, so there were a lot of cops in the compound,” Gillio said. The second man “tried to run and hide but there was nowhere for him to go.”
Police did not know why this man was climbing the fence, but decided he was “not too intoxicated to care for his own safety” and “they gave him a break,” Gillio said. The second man was not arrested for either public intoxication or trespassing.
The police compound was located near the festival’s Miller Avenue entrance and its fence that ran ran parallel to Uvas Creek down past the vendors on the ranch side. A blue tarpaulin covered the chain-linked fence, making the otherwise transparent divide opaque.
