More police planned, but some staying clear of Hot August Nights

Monday, Aug. 2, 1999 | 9:19 a.m.

Hot rodders and street partiers will be under the watch of 150 police officers trained and equipped to handle rowdy crowds and rioters when Friday night's grand finale rolls around.

The presence of Reno police will be double what it was on Aug. 8, 1998, when 208 people were arrested during a Saturday night melee and riot-gear clad cops fired tear gas and rubber projectiles at revelers.

Organizers are ending the sanctioned events Saturday afternoon this year in an effort to avoid a repeat last year's disturbance, which police claimed was instigated primarily by out-of-town youth gangs.

City officials acknowledge last year's riot might keep some people away but still anticipate total attendance around 200,000. They project the Reno-Sparks economy will receive a $100 million injection - down $20 million from a year ago.

Contrary to past years, area hotels and motels are reporting rooms still available.

Bill Yenne, San Francisco-based journalist and author who writes about classic cars, is among those boycotting the event this year. He says he still remembers the taste of blood in his mouth from last summer.

"I won't be coming to Hot August Nights this year," Yenne told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"There's plenty of car shows where I can do my job and where the police don't beat innocent people."

Yenne said he was arrested while looking for his two daughters. He said he had walked toward police officers to ask for help. He said he showed his American Society of Journalists and Authors press card to Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson, who then cursed at him and ordered three officers to knock Yenne to the ground.

Yenne said Robinson, in charge of riot control last year, shoved his face into the pavement during the arrest, causing cuts and bruises visible in photos taken 23 hours later when he was released from jail. He said he'll never return to Reno.

Dwight Carl Fortney, a South Lake Tahoe businessman who had dinner in the Eldorado Hotel & Casino the night of the riot, said he witnessed police beating a bystander who approached them for help. He doesn't intend to return to Reno either.

"Our friends with hot rods are going to San Lorenzo, Calif., instead," Fortney said.

Carl Primmer, manager of the Horseshoe Motel in downtown Reno, said he's noticing a difference from last year.

"We were full for the event last year," he said. "This year I've got two reservations. The kids who took their classic cars here last year and got arrested in my parking lot said they wouldn't be coming back to Reno."

That doesn't surprise Reno Police Chief Jerry Hoover.

"When we arrest people, they usually don't become our friends," Hoover said. "Usually, they are arrested for a reason."

He said people who thought police overstepped their authority were free to file complaints against officers.

Last year's event yielded 11 internal-affairs complaints alleging police brutality or improper behavior.

Of those complaints, only one was "sustained," meaning that evidence was found proving the allegations, Hoover said. That complaint involved an officer who slammed a suspect's head against a van.

"It was determined that it was an excess use of force," Hoover said. "That officer faces fairly severe penalties."

Hoover declined to identify the officer, the penalties or provide any details about the 11 cases.

Last year's riot prompted some downtown business leaders to urge an end to the celebration. But Hoover and others said they have taken serious steps to make the event safer this year.

Every one of Reno's 320 sworn officers is now trained in crowd-control techniques and using less lethal weapons, Deputy Chief Jim Johns said.

Last August, a team of 60 officers dressed in riot gear was all the department had to face off with a crowd of several thousand.

Johns said the 1998 disturbances were an anomaly. He said police are ready for the worst but are more concerned with heading off problems before they start.

Hoover has threatened a 10 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales from liquor stores. The curfew will only be enforced if stores sell unlimited amounts of alcohol to already drunk customers, Johns said. New signs are posted inside casinos and on streets noting the prohibition of public alcohol consumption.