Officials: University Hill riot investigation nears end

The Boulder Police Department’s investigation of the March 6 University Hill riot that resulted in minor injuries to first responders and property damage is coming to a close, officials announced Wednesday.

Ten people have been arrested in connection with the riot and three warrants are still outstanding.

The University of Colorado Boulder’s investigation into student conduct violations from the riot is also nearing an end, campus officials announced Wednesday. The CU Boulder Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution received “what is likely the last large batch” of referrals from the police department and is now reviewing 70 student conduct cases.

To date, CU Boulder has placed 43 students on probation and suspended four students. The university did not find sufficient information in 123 referrals to move forward with the student conduct process.

There are an additional eight student conduct cases that do not have sufficient evidence, said spokesperson Andrew Sorensen. He added that campus officials believe they could receive further information about them.

The March 6 riot started out as a party that grew to an estimated 500 to 800 people, mostly collegeaged, near 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Attendees flipped over a car and threw items at another car and also threw rocks and bricks at responding officers and their vehicles. Three officers received minor injuries.

No students referred for violating conduct policy so far have included attacks on law enforcement, according to CU Boulder.

The massive amount of evidence — more than 1,000 tips and video submissions — made for a long investigation, said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold, adding that the mass shooting at King Soopers also caused delays.

“We made a promise to our community that there would be arrests and even though it has been a long road we kept that promise,” Herold said in a statement.

University Hill resident Alan Bernstein said on Wednesday that he still wants to see additional steps taken to prevent disruptions in the neighborhood.

“My reaction to the efforts to find and deal with the perpetrators is that’s all fine and good, but

that doesn't do anything to deal with the probability of another instance,” he said. “It's basically looking backwards instead of forwards.”

Bernstein said he'd like to see additional messaging about student expectations and consequences.

“It's not just about rioting. It's about shooting off fireworks, it's about leaving beer cans and litter all over the place and noise,” he said.

CU Boulder has spent significant resources on communicating expected behavior and consequences, Sorensen said, including online articles, emails to the student body, letters to Hill properties with nuisance issues, letters to landlords, emails to families, a mobile billboard and door hangers distributed to houses on the Hill.