Last weekend near the St. Paul campus, 28 people were cited for driving while intoxicated. Three minors were also cited for driving with alcohol in their systems, and four people had their vehicles taken away for repeat alcohol or drug offenses.

Sean McDermott, information officer for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said the arrests were part of Operation NightCAP, an ongoing program that targets the 14 counties that have the most fatal drug- or alcohol-related accidents in the Twin Cities metro area.

More than 800 vehicles were stopped during the weekend, according to a Minnesota Department of Public Safety news release. Sixty-six people were arrested for driving while intoxicated, 430 drivers were issued citations for traffic violations, 42 were arrested for offenses other than DWIs and 18 minors were cited for underage drinking while driving, riding in a vehicle or walking. Additionally, 13 vehicles were forfeited during the weekend.

This was the first weekend since the legal limit for alcohol consumption and driving changed from 0.10 percent blood-alcohol concentration to 0.08 percent.

Littering tickets

At approximately 11:45 p.m. on July 29, an officer was dispatched to the plaza outside of Anderson Hall after receiving a report of a man harassing people and telling them they had to give him money.

The officer cited the suspect for disorderly conduct, and placed him under citizen’s arrest. The officer then transported the man to the Hard Times Cafe and was releasing him with his citation when the man ripped up his ticket, threw it on the ground and said, “I’m never paying for any ticket of yours.”

The suspect was transported and booked at the Hennepin County Jail for disorderly conduct and littering.

In another littering incident, parking monitors issued a citation for a vehicle Thursday on Washington Avenue Southeast.

Officers observed the suspect take the ticket, throw it on the ground and drive off. They picked up the ticket and mailed it to the suspect along with a littering violation.

Dealing with stress

At approximately midnight on Aug. 1, an officer responded to Comstock Hall on a report of a man who might have been intentionally cutting himself.

The man admitted he cut his leg several times with a razor because he was having problems with his girlfriend.

He was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center Crisis Intervention Center, where he was voluntarily admitted.

Michele Sullivan, a social worker at Boynton Health

Service’s mental health clinic, said people have many other options if they feel like self-mutilating.

They can go to the emergency room at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, where they can talk with a psychologist or psychiatrist, or they can go to walk-in clinics such as the Walk-In Counseling Center in South Minneapolis. The first appointment is free and does not need to be scheduled ahead of time, Sullivan said.

Directory assistance can also provide crisis hotline numbers, and Boynton has urgent care in its mental health clinic, Sullivan said.