Steelers Fans Celebrate: New Arrest Numbers, Fires, DamagesMore Than 100 People Facing Charges In PittsburghPOSTED: 11:29 pm EST February 1,
2009 PITTSBURGH -- Cleanup continued on Monday, and authorities continued to sort through the various offenses that were committed when thousands of Steelers fans clogged city streets celebrating Pittsburgh's unprecedented sixth Super Bowl title Sunday night.  Steelers Fans Celebrate: New Arrest Numbers, Fires, DamagesWTAE Channel 4's Aaron Saykin reported that revelers streamed out of South Side bars and created an impromptu block party on East Carson Street moments after the Steelers sealed their 27-23 victory in Super Bowl XLIII.Tom Larkin, a videographer and a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, was in the middle of the action on the South Side."It wasn't a riot. It was happy," Larkin said. "Everyone was giving hugs. Everyone was slapping high-fives. It was like you were with your extended family. It was pretty cool."Larkin captured much of the party on his video camera."The first thing you see is a guy that fell off his truck," Larkin said, describing his footage. "I guess he was hanging out of the back of a truck and completely fell off. He was unconscious when I got up to him. And just mayhem all the way down to Carson Street."Things got a little rougher in the Oakland neighborhood, where a bus shelter was destroyed and a couch was lit on fire on Forbes Avenue near the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library. Graffiti was also scrawled on campus buildings."There was a brick through our window, cars on fire, kids everywhere, police everywhere in riot gear. It was pretty unbelievable," pizza shop owner Aaron Price said.More than 100 arrests were made for failure to disperse. Pittsburgh police also arrested two people on suspicion of driving under the influence and one person on suspicion of arson. Dozens more were cited and will receive summons for offenses that were deemed less serious. Full List Of Damages, Offenses: Read The Pittsburgh Police Bureau's Report"Usually, this would backlog the entire system," said Pittsburgh Municipal Court administrator Angharad Stock. "But what ended up happening in these cases was that many of the people that were taken into custody were released pursuant to the criminal rules."A Dumpster fire was started in the middle of Forbes Avenue outside Pitt's student union. Flames reached at least 12 feet tall.A couch was set on fire and a car was overturned on South Bouquet Street, just off Forbes Avenue. Slideshow: Couch Ignited In Oakland While a large crowd cheered, at least one person was seen fueling the fire on live television during WTAE Channel 4's postgame coverage from Oakland.The shirtless person's face -- painted in black -- was quickly concealed by somebody who slid a piece of clothing over it. With a large tattoo visible on his back, he continued spraying some sort of fluid on the couch.Bottles were thrown through the windows of The Original Hot Dog Shop and a Bruegger's bagel store on Forbes Avenue, Hait reported.Many South Side streets had been blocked off before the end of the game so that people could celebrate and not worry about cars. Police also hoped to deter potential problems by putting more than 400 officers on patrol.In the Strip District, another popular area with bars and restaurants, several streets were barricaded before the game began.Police reported five fires were set in Oakland, including one involving a car. Five fires were also reported in the South Side and in Northview Heights.One police officer was reported to be injured with a broken arm following the Steelers' win.
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