Alaska State Troopers and local EMS personnel stayed so busy this Moose Dropping Weekend that they can’t even give accurate numbers as to how many calls they responded to.

Trooper Spokeswoman Megan Peters says that there was suspected gang activity, but Troopers were only aware of it after the fact.  There was a group of 10 people, she says, that searched out fights along the river and downtown area.   As soon as Troopers responded to one fight, another one was taking place in another location.

It wasn’t only out-of-town youth causing problems, say Peters.  There were several reports of local youth trespassing and causing problems.

Talkeetna Fire Chief Ken Farina says it was a rough weekend for all rescuers, from dealing with a rollover on the Parks Highway, to responding to drunk people passed out and laying on the side of the road, to the river search and rescue.  He says this year the festival was out of hand.  He is upset with the blocked access in downtown and says the vendor access and the set up  made it impossible to access homes and businesses properly.  In his words, the event set up was totally unacceptable.  However, he says the bright light in the weekend is Steve Mahay, who he is calling an angel for his overwhelmingly generous response to the river search now in effect.

The worst tragedy of the weekend appears to be from a result of people jumping off the area near the railroad trestle into the silty, glacially fed Talkeetna River.  The jumping dares started on Saturday and ended with a presumed fatality of a 22 year old Jacob Larson on Sunday, according to Troopers. They were not present on Sunday when the 3 friends jumped into the river and one didn’t make it back to shore. 

Troopers will not have exact counts of how many arrests and warnings were given for several days.  Peters says efforts right now are focused on the river search and recovery.