State patrol targets fair

Nebraska State Patrol officers confiscated this pile of alcohol from violators at the Chase County fair in Imperial Friday and Saturday evenings. The booty includes half-gallon jugs of vodka.

IMPERIAL -- Nebraska State Patrol officers worked a "selective" during the last two nights of the Chase County fair, and ended up with arrests for minor in possession, procuring liquor for minors and driving while intoxicated.

Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Ted Mashek of McCook said the Chase County fair "is the closest thing to the state fair outside of Lincoln," and, because of its size, has become a likely target for liquor violations.

Mashek said officers frequently make alcohol arrests at county fairs, but the Chase County fair seems to produce more simply because it is bigger than any others in Southwest Nebraska.

Before and after concerts Friday and Saturday evenings in Imperial, officers issued 28 minor in possession tickets and two procuring liquor for minor citations (an incorrect number of procuring citations was listed in a story Monday on the arrests). Mashek said most of the arrests were made in the parking lots around the fairgrounds; he said officers did not work the crowd inside the concerts.

Working traffic to and from the fairgrounds before and after the concerts, officers issued eight citations for having open containers of alcohol in vehicles and 60 moving and speeding violations. Mashek said the arrests included one for driving while intoxicated.

Four troopers, one aircraft, one dog and two investigators worked the Imperial area during the two-day concentrated effort.

Mashek said they were very, very fortunate there were no major incidents or accidents, although he said, if the weather had been warmer and less windy, the number of violations may have been greater.