Troopers kept busy at festival

TALKEETNA -- Alaska State Troopers characterized this year's Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival as relatively peaceful when compared to past years, despite the apparently accidental death of a festival security guard and a number of individual arrests during the four-day event.

John Portman was a longtime festival securtity guard who died, Thursday morning, hours before the festival opened. The 52-yea-old Portman died when he rolled his All Terrain Vehicle and struck his head against a wooden post inside the festival grounds. Portman was head of security for the festival.

From Aug. 5-8, troopers spent a total of 380 man hours working in and around the four-day festival. According to troopers, there were eight arrests on outstanding warrants, six for driving under the influence, four for driving without a license, five for driving with a suspended license and one for minor consuming alcohol.

Fourteen of the 23 arrests were physical arrests and nine involved a summons to appear in court, troopers said.

Trooper Lt. Rick Roberts has patrolled the festival since 2000. "It was far calmer this year," Roberts said. "Last year, half our arrests were drug related. This year there were none."

Trooper Kyle Young from the Mat-Su Drug Team said there were ongoing investigations, however, into possible drug sales over the weekend.

The number of DUI arrests was up from last year, according to Roberts, but he said there was word that private festival security guards were stopping people from leaving the grounds if they seemed drunk or impaired.

"If that's true, we commend them," Roberts said. "That's a good effort on their part."

In addition, to the arrests, troopers made 490 so-called contacts, including traffic stops, hitchhiker stops and contacts at the beer garden. During those contacts, 178 citations and 311 warnings were issued.

"Overall, I'd have to characterize this as a fairly peaceful gathering," Roberts said. "The festival seemed more tranquil and the attendees seemed more composed."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.