Mass arrests during 'Unofficial St. Patrick's Day' around U of I campus

URBANA -- Police in Urbana and Champaign are once again coping with a University of Illinois tradition called "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day."

Officers had issued 267 citations by early Saturday following another night of binge drinking in areas near the campus.

Unofficial St. Patrick's Day began Thursday night. The 13-year-old event has morphed into a two-day drinking binge across Campustown that draws both local students and out-of-town partiers.

Police focused their street presence this year on private parties.

Of the 267 citations, 103 were for public possession of alcohol and 106 were for underage drinking.

On Friday evening, a man in his 20s fell three stories after attempting to climb from a third floor balcony to a fourth floor balcony.

He was hospitalized and police were investigating the incident.