54 spring breakers arrested in Savannah bash amid booze-soaked brawls, beach flooded with trash

The party was over for dozens of party animals amid an out-of-control, booze-fueled spring break bash in Savannah, Ga. last weekend.

Tybee Island police arrested 54 rowdy spring breakers and issued 116 citations during the massive “Orange Crush” beach rager at the tourist hotspot.

Authorities also recovered three stolen firearms and a stolen vehicle during the island festivities.

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While the number of arrests seems high for Orange Crush weekend, the number of partiers who landed in cuffs decreased from five years ago

In 2019, 81 people were arrested during the event, which crammed as many as 50,000 college students on the tiny 3-square-mile island on average.

However, island community leaders were ready to take on the historically boisterous crowd.

Local leaders implemented unprecedented traffic and public safety measures after last year’s event, which became violent and chaotic, according to AJC.

Over 100 additional police officers from the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and other local police departments were called last weekend to help Tybee Island’s 12-person police force maintain order.

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Two women were caught on video duking it out on the beach over the weekend, resulting in both their bathing suit tops appearing to fly off their bodies, drawing a strong reaction from the crowd.

Multiple clips posted online from the weekend showed both men and women crowding a boardwalk as fights continued to erupt.

In addition to the violence, Tybee Island officials say there was enough trash left on the beach Saturday to fill more than 10 all-terrain vehicle carts.

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Unfortunately, at 6:54 p.m., high tide hit, and some of the trash sprawled across the beach washed into the ocean, according to the outlet.

The festival gained a reputation in the 1990s for its wild atmosphere.

Savannah State University, whose main campus is 16 miles from Tybee Island, disassociated with the event in 1991 over of the high incidence of crime.

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But the event returned to Tybee Island last year for the first time since 2020, and with it all the drama.

However, a group of Savannah State students helped with the cleanup efforts on Monday, according to WJCL.

While the event seemed to go off the hinges again this year, Tybee Island Mayor Brian West called it “manageable” due to the community’s “preparation” and thanked all who volunteered to help keep things in check.

“We had a very large crowd on the beach yesterday that enjoyed their spring break activities and were polite and cooperative with our authorities,” West wrote in a statement to the outlet.

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“We’re very grateful to the many volunteers and public servants that made this weekend, so far, a manageable event. We currently have a large number of spring breakers on the beach who are again enjoying themselves and being cooperative.”

West did note that the crowd did “leave a lot of trash” on the beach.

Tybee Island’s interim city manager, Michelle Owens, told the outlet that they “were successful in eliminating the chaos and disorderly conduct from last year.”

Tybee Island wasn’t the only area to feel the brunt of the partiers.

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The city of Savannah also dealt with many spring breakers running amok downtown.

The crowd grew so large that the Savannah Police Department was forced to temporarily shut down West Congress Street — a road littered with late-night bars and clubs.

But Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said things turned out just fine with the “protocol” the city had in place.

“From an enforcement perspective, we stopped the unpermitted activities and engaged with them,” Johnson said, according to AJC Politics. “At that age, you just want to have a good time.”

Johnson himself was downtown on Friday for an unrelated Earth Day event but was able to speak with some of the partiers enjoying his city.

Johnson is a Savannah State University alumnus and one of the organizers who helped stage Orange Crush parties in the early days, according to the outlet.

While speaking with some of the students from his alma mater, Johnson said, he was bestowed the nickname “OC OG.”

“They got a kick out of that,” Johnson told the outlet, “and I guess I did, too.”