'The U' drums up crowds -- and arrests

Oct. 22—Editor's note: The Scottsdale Progress' version of this story incorrectly reported that two of the "shots fired" calls to police were at Bottle Blonde.

It has just turned dark, but the block is already lit up and booming.

A DJ at El Hefe is pumping Lil Jon's "I Don't Give a (expletive)" — and those dancing or just nodding heads sing along, emphasizing nightclub nihilism.

With trendy bars going shoulder to shoulder here, the street is lit up by dozens and dozens of big screen TVs showing college football as hip hop booms over "The U" with bass turned up so high the bars literally vibrate.

These establishments may not be sure if they are sports bars or clubs, but they are raking in money.

And racking up arrests.

In Scottsdale, a vibrant slice of the Entertainment District is lit by lasers, neon beams — and, just about every weekend — flashing police lights.

Unlike the well-manicured arts scene just a few blocks away, the "entertainment" is blaring music and cocktails-fueled dancing by raging partiers who pack the bars.

Some of these partiers end up behind a different set of bars.

A review of Scottsdale Police "calls for service" over the last year show a staggering 3,000 calls in the last year came from what can be called the "dirty dozen" nightspots: 11:11, Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row, Hi Fi Kitchen Cocktails, Boondocks, Bottled Blonde, Casa Amigos, El Hefe, Riot House, Pattie's First Avenue Lounge, Giligin's, Maya Dayclub, Wasted Grain.

Most of the action takes place on intersecting blocks a half-block east of the intersection of Camelback and Scottsdale roads, with boisterous revelers hidden from the roaring car traffic.

Police call this area "The U" because of the shape formed by Indian Plaza on the north, Saddlebag Trail on the east and Shoeman Lane on the south. On these bar-studded blocks, those streets are closed to vehicles, though on weekend nights often jammed with partying pedestrians.

Typically in their early 20s, they bar hop, munch take-away food, dance in the streets, flirt — and, just about every weekend, fight.

In the last 12 months, police responded to nearly 100 assaults at the bars here.

Tired of having officers from around the 40-mile long city racing to 911 calls in The U, Scottsdale Police Chief Jeff Chief Walther formed a team — a sergeant, five officers and a police aide — to patrol the bar scene last summer.

"The Scottsdale Police Department's Special Projects Squad was created and is based on many years of work, observation and insight into the unique area that is the Entertainment District and downtown," Walther explained.

He knows "the game," here, as long before he became the city's top cop, Walther as a young officer patrolled the city's bar scene.

"Quite simply, a one size fits all approach to police work in the area just doesn't work," Walther said.

He said the new squad can hop on bikes to race past partying pedestrians to handle violent calls, but also stays in contact with security guards and managers of bars during lulls in the action.

And, Walther added, the downtown squad "could be in cars supporting the Short-Term Rental Squad at nuisance parties ...Whatever Scottsdale's downtown can throw at them, the Special Projects Squad was devised to handle it."

The U, in particular, throws plenty of problems at his department.

'Ready for anything'

Before transferring to the public information office, Sgt. Alison Sempsis worked a variety of street beats, including a stint downtown.

What was responding to clubs down here like?

"Hard question," she said, with a laugh. "It's entertaining, it's fun. But you are going call to call — helping people find their way or (doing) a medical assist — or handling bigger calls, like shots fired.

"You have to be ready for anything."

Indeed, the great majority of calls are "disturbance" or "intoxicated subject," usually someone who has had too much to drink and is causing a relatively mild ruckus.

But, with thousands packing the clubs and hundreds roaming the streets, an insult can escalate to a shove which can escalate to a full battle.

Over the last year, 24 assaults had a note "@BB" — for Bottled Blonde.

Sempsis noted this doesn't mean the fight started inside Bottled Blonde, just that whoever called it in used that location as a marker.

In the same time period, 22 assaults had a note @HiFi; 15 assaults were reported at Boondock's; 17 at Casa Amigo's; 10 each at El Hefe and Wasted Grain; eight at Maya; six at Riot House; six at Pattie's (a half-mile south of The U); seven at 11:11 (on Drinkwater a bit east of The U); and three at Gilligin's (two blocks from the cluster of bars).

Eighteen assault calls came from the W Hotel, at the west end of The U.

Casa Amigo's, Riot House, Wasted Grain and Maya each had an aggravated assault call.

Sempsis noted "any type of weapon" raises an assault to "aggravated" level, as does an injury such as a broken bone or tooth knocked out.

Fights, she noted "escalate quickly — when alcohol is involved and a large crowd is involved."

Guns, thefts

A handful of times over the last year, gunshots have led to speeding sirens.

Police responded to "shots fired" calls five times outside or near U bars.

Only on one of the calls was an injury reported.

Early on the evening of March 26, a 30-year-old man was shot outside 11:11. He was taken to the hospital for "non-life-threatening injuries" and later released.

Sempsis said no arrests have been made and detectives are still investigating what was called "an isolated incident with no threat to the surrounding community."

While gunshots in The U are rare, thefts are common.

In the last year, police were called to respond to more than 200 theft calls from patrons of Entertainment District bars and clubs.

Next-door neighbors Dierks Bentley's and Hi Fi combined for 70 theft calls, with 54 across Indian Plaza at Bottled Blonde and 36 across Saddlebag Trail at El Hefe.

Thefts, according to Sempsis, vary.

"It could be someone losing their cellphone and they don't realize they lost it because they're intoxicated, so they think someone stole it. Or theft of service: someone refuses to pay a bar tab or an Uber (ride).

"Or something stolen out of a back pocket or a purse stolen off a bar. Or somebody on the side of the road who can't find their purse or cellphone and calls 911."

For police, those non-emergency calls can be a time crusher.

"There's so much follow up that comes with it," Sempsis said. "You may have to go and review security footage, interview everyone on scene, get receipts from the bar."

Even more detailed follow up comes with a far more serious call: "sexual crime."

At least 10 such calls were linked to Entertainment District bars over the last year.

Alleged sexual crimes range from improper touching while dancing to rape.

Sempsis noted that, while the location of the alleged attack is noted on logs, some sexual crime calls will come from a hospital. Medical professionals "have a duty to report if something happens or something looks wrong," she said.

Over the summer, for example, an alleged sexual crime at Giligin's was reported by a staff member at a hospital.

For that and other alleged sex crimes, the Scottsdale Police Department's Special Victims Unit responds.

SVU detectives interview victims and track their steps. "It could be a female who thought she was drugged, woke up and doesn't remember what happened," Sempsis said.

"Or it could be a sexual assault from an unknown subject."

Boondocks was the site of three reported sex crimes, with two at Casa Amigos and one at a half-dozen other venues.

Random calls

Sempsis gave a brief description of a handful of cases from the "calls for service" log reviewed by the Progress.

On Halloween Eve 2022, just before midnight an assault call came from Casa Amigos — two men who traded punches in the bar were arrested.

At the same bar in March, a "strong-arm robbery was reported" — but it turned out to be an intoxicated young man who thought a taxi driver stole his credit cards and made fraudulent charges.

On the morning of Sept. 16, a young woman called 911 about an incident at El Hefe.

"She was kicked out of the club the previous night and said she was punched while she was getting kicked out," Sempsis said.

"Sometimes," she added, "you get people who are intoxicated and trip over the curb and fall down and hurt themselves or get involved in a fight and jump in the middle of it — and then don't remember what happened."

On the night of Oct. 8, a young man at Boondocks reported he was assaulted by an unknown attacker — who stole his phone.

The same night, Hi Fi security guards called 911 about a big brawl involving seven young men and women.

By the time police arrived, the brawlers were gone — but Sempsis praised the bar's employees.

"Our security guards are phenomenal," she said.

Asked to summarize the most common calls police receive at The U, Sempsis said:

"An intoxicated subject that wants to get back in after being kicked out of a bar or an intoxicated subject that needs a ride. Random stuff like that.

"It's not a crime to be drunk in public anymore," Sempsis noted.

"So what do you do when you get too intoxicated, you don't know where your cellphone is and you can't find your friends?

"It becomes a police problem."

Scottsdale Police officers, she stressed, understand the tourist nature of the city, pegged by thousands as the place to visit and party — be it a bachelorette group or golf outing or college kids taking a break from rampaging in Tempe.

"We try to help people who come to Scottsdale to visit and drink too much and don't know where their hotel is, don't know where their friends are," Sempsis said.

"We want them to have a good time — but we want them to be responsible."

That last phrase hardly applies to the young woman at Hi Fi just before midnight Sept. 15.

When security guards attempted to escort the rowdy lady to the door, she refused to leave — so Hi Fi staff flagged down police officers on patrol.

After the screaming woman flailed at security guards, a cop put her in handcuffs, told her she was under arrest and called for "the wagon" to take her to jail.

Sempsis noted an investigation continues, but reviewed the arrest report.

"While officers were waiting for the wagon, she slipped out of her handcuffs and urinated in public," Sempsis said.

"Then, she spit on one of our officers."