DPD officer hit while directing traffic during relatively quiet opening day

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An exciting day for Tigers fans and it was a relatively quiet day for police save for one incident.

The Tigers took home a win and in a sense Detroit police, did too as bone-head behavior was kept to a minimum.

DPD did arrest a man who went after one of their own with his car. The man hit a cop directing traffic at Third and Fisher after the game.

The officer is ok and the driver is behind bars, probably drying out

"I assume there's probably some of that liquid courage in him," said Capt. Darin Szilagy, Detroit police. "A little of that alcohol makes a bad decision and that's going to stick with that offender for the rest of his life."

Some fans left lots trashed  and cops dealt with drunkards, scammers and brawlers.

"A guy assaulted a gentleman pretty severely, did require hospitalization and our officers were on hand and took him into custody immediately," Szilagy said.

Szilagy says his unit only made about five arrests Friday, including the aforementioned assault on Adams and Witherell was one of them.

They also put handcuffs on parking lot scammers hustling unsuspecting drivers

"People sometimes find a vacant lot and set up and act like they're  parking lot attendant, charge people to park there when in fact they're not licensed to do so nor do they own the lot, nor are there any services offering the motorist protection," Szilagy said.

Despite all that, 2016's home opener was relatively tame. Police say they've averaged upwards of 600 open intoxicant tickets in years past.

On Friday, officers issued a fraction of that. Here's to hoping that  becomes the new normal

"We invite people to come down and have a great time but we don't tolerate those acts," Szilagy said. "Maybe in the past they thought they could do that but in today's Detroit we're not going to tolerate it.

"You get to that point, you want to start fighting or clowning or being disorderly, it's time to go home. We ask you to do that. and we'd rather see you go home than come to our house."

Another word about parking lots: many people had their cars towed because they parked in residential lots that is a mistake you want to make. The next time you come downtown to checkout a game.
make sure there's a sign detailing the lot's rates. If not, you run the risk of getting towed