Fans of Dead Make It Lively for Police

In a throwback to the flower-child days of the 1960s, Irvine police arrested a dozen Grateful Dead fans, confiscated “several thousand” hits of LSD and broke up a nude swimming party at a local hotel in post-concert incidents Monday.

Also Monday, five Grateful Dead fans suffered minor injuries in a traffic accident on Coast Highway in Newport Beach when their van struck a utility pole and flipped over on its side. Police said that afterwards they found two ounces of marijuana and an undetermined quantity of LSD in the van. The driver was arrested on suspicion of possession of LSD.

Irvine Police Sgt. Leo Jones said Monday’s incidents, which followed Grateful Dead weekend appearances at the Irvine Amphitheatre, were the worst in recent memory of local concerts by the group, which came to prominence during the ‘60s.

“This is probably a new high” for the Dead followers, Jones said. “This is all ‘60s love-child type of stuff.”

Jones said the majority of Irvine’s afternoon patrol shift was tied up Monday ‘This is all ‘60s love-child type of stuff.’

--Irvine Police Sgt. Leo Jones

rounding up arrestees and quelling disturbances involving the so-called “Dead Heads,” who wear tie-dyed shirts and headbands reminiscent of the ‘60s and follow the Grateful Dead around the country.

Jones said the city’s narcotics force is also bracing for an expected surge in hallucinogenic drug sales among local adolescents following the concert appearances here. He said hallucinogenic drugs, a mainstay for some Dead Heads, were in abundance at the concert, as evidenced by the seizures Monday. In past Dead concerts here, he said, hallucinogenics have turned up locally for months afterwards.

Police were still tallying the contraband, but Jones said it involved “several thousand hits” of LSD, a mind-altering drug, as well as “several pounds” of psilocybin, a fungus also known as “magic mushrooms.”

No dollar value had been affixed to the drugs, although Jones noted that LSD sells on the street for $5 a dose.

The 12 people arrested, ranging in age from 16 to the mid-40s, were being held in Orange County Juvenile Hall and Orange County Jail on suspicion of drug possession, drug sales, being under the influence of drugs and trespassing, among a variety of counts. Jones had no names pending completion of necessary paper work.

The arrestees were being held in lieu of bonds of $25,000 each, although police are requesting that bond be raised to $100,000 on six who are suspected of drug trafficking.

The first of the Monday incidents occurred in predawn hours when Irvine patrol units stopped a suspicious vehicle near the scene of a reported burglary and discovered the large quantities of LSD and psilocybin, Jones said.

Few details were available on the incident Monday, but Jones said “a number of people” in the vehicle were arrested and their drugs were confiscated.

About 1 p.m. Monday, Jones said, Irvine police were called by the manager of the Embassy Suites Hotel, where an unruly crowd of about “50 to 80” Grateful Dead fans were swimming nude in the pool.

Richard Schwartz, general manager of the 293-room hotel, had called police after several guests complained about a disturbance in the pool and after several of the Grateful Dead fans refused to vacate a room following the 1 p.m. checkout time, said Pat Cox, spokeswoman for the Dallas-based hotel chain.

Jones said a force of 15 officers converged on the hotel and began clearing out the pool. Most of the nude swimmers were told simply to get out of the hotel, while an unspecified number were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, Jones said.

Drugs, Money Confiscated

Officers also went to a hotel room which Jones said some Grateful Dead fans had refused to leave. There, Jones said, police found five more Dead fans and confiscated a small amount of marijuana as well as $12,000 to $13,000 in suspected drug money. Residents of the room told police they earned the money selling Grateful Dead T-shirts, but Jones said they could produce no business records.

Arrests were made in that room, as well. The arrestees’ vehicle was searched, and an additional, unspecified amount of money was found, as well as an undetermined amount of LSD and psilocybin, Jones said.

In Newport Beach, officers were sorting out details of a traffic accident that paralyzed Coast Highway during the height of afternoon rush hour. Officer Glenn Caldwell said the accident happened at 4:20 p.m. when a van carrying Grateful Dead fans back to their homes in the Berkeley area swerved out of control and hit a power pole while headed north in the 6000 block of Coast Highway.

The driver, Deborah Ann Flex, 38, told police that she became distracted and hit the pole after an argument broke out in the rear of the van. Power was knocked out momentarily to the surrounding area. The five occupants were treated for injuries at nearby Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. Flex, 38, was later placed under arrest at her hospital bed on suspicion of possessing LSD.