Fans of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (WFAN/AP) — It wasn’t just the New York Jets who got blitzed in Monday night’s football game against the New England Patriots.
Foxborough Police Chief Edward O’Leary says officers took 102 fans into protective custody for public intoxication, by far the most he can remember at a Patriots game in his 25 years as chief. Seven required hospitalization.
He says the lopsided score — the Patriots humiliated Rex Ryan’s Jets, 45-3 — may have contributed to the problem because many fans lost focus on the game.
“We have not had over 100 custodies for a game since I’ve been chief in 1985,” O’Leary said.
Fifteen people were taken into custody on a variety of other charges.
O’Leary tells The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro that about half the drunken fans were apprehended as they tried to enter Gillette Stadium. He says many were battling the frigid pre-game temperatures with hard liquor.
“That’s a quicker hit and changes people’s behavior,” said O’Leary.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
