As more than 70,000 fans descended upon Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara Sunday for the Super Bowl, local law enforcement responded to only a handful of incidents at and near the stadium — with violations ranging from a man racing across the field with several security guards in pursuit to more run-of-the-mill public drunkeness charges.
There were ten total incidents reported in the area of Levi’s Stadium during and around the big game Sunday, featuring a handful of trespassing, disorderly conduct and theft charges, according to the Santa Clara County Police Department’s arrest log.
That is half of the incidents reported at the Super Bowl hosted at Levi’s back in 2016, which primarily included swindling and public drunkenness — as well as a handful of planes that had to be diverted out of restricted airspace and a North Korean satellite that appeared 300 miles above Levi’s Stadium.
Security for the 1.85-million square foot venue was overseen by the Santa Clara Police Department, which has been tasked with the stadium’s security for its events since it opened in 2014, with assistance from a range of other agencies and security companies. With officers fanned out across the stadium, security was also aided by drones, real-time monitoring hubs and security cameras.
“The Santa Clara Police Department is proud to have successfully planned and hosted our second Super Bowl,” said SCPD’s Lieutenant Eric Lagergren. “This safe and secure event was a combined effort from our local, regional, state and federal partners to host one of the largest events in the country.”
The most eye-catching incident of the big game was the Super Bowl streaker, who ran onto the field around 6:30 p.m. and was pursued by several security guards and even a player. The man was tackled by the guards before being hastily escorted off the field. That man and a second who made a field incursion around the same time were arrested on suspicion of trespassing, according to the log.
A third man was taken into custody around 5:30 a.m. in the area of Levi’s Stadium on suspicion of trespassing on the field, and another man was arrested on suspicion of trespassing to “destroy standing timber” shortly after kickoff, authorities said.
Other arrests include a handful of disorderly conduct cases, as well as one instance of pickpocketing and one of obtaining money under false pretenses.
Fears about enforcement by Immigraton and Customs Enforcement surrounding the game, which prompted protests and preparations in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl, also did not come to pass. The Santa Clara Rapid Response Network, which had trained immigration responders fanned out around Levi’s Stadium and surrounding transit hubs including San Jose, Mountain View and Sunnyvale, reported Sunday that they had not seen any increased ICE presence in the region, according to a social media post.
Leave a Reply