SOLOMONS ISLAND, Md. (April 21, 2008)—This year's annual Tiki Bar opening brought approximately 13,000 people to the island on Friday, April 18 and about 9,000 on Saturday, according to estimates released by police in Calvert County today.
This year, as with previous years, police made a strong show of force. The Calvert County Sheriff's Office was joined by the Maryland State Police, The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Sheriff's Office had on scene an armored truck and their "special operations" boat which was manned by officers dressed in military-type uniforms.
As in years prior, several were arrested throughout the party weekend.
Between 7:00 p.m. and 11:20 p.m. on Friday, Sheriff Office deputies arrested three subjects for disorderly and assault at three different locations; Solomons Island Road near Lore Road, at Bunky's Charter Boats and in the Lighthouse Restaurant parking lot.
On Saturday, Sheriff deputies and Maryland State Police troopers arrested 4 subjects, one of those at the Tiki Bar, and charged them with disorderly, resisting arrest and destruction of property at Catamarans, Grill Sgt. and the Tiki Bar. Two of those arrests occurred between midnight and one a.m., one at 4:00 p.m. and one at 10:00 p.m.
In the early morning hours on Sunday, April 20, one person was arrested for disorderly and failure to obey a lawful order by a MSP trooper at the Tiki Bar.