Police describe overnight events as ‘normal’ as revelers crowd Strip

It’s official: this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration was “average,” by Las Vegas standards, anyway.

That’s how police characterized the party that began Wednesday evening and didn’t wane until well into the first day of 2009.

“From everything I’ve been told, it was quite normal,” said Bill Cassell, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department.

No fatalities had been reported among the estimated 291,000 visitors to Las Vegas, he said.

But at least 126 people began the new year with a thud after being booked into jail on a variety of mostly misdemeanor charges.

Among those were 47 people busted for driving under the influence.

Pest exterminator Gilbert Baca planned to avoid such a fate Wednesday night.

The 50-year-old said he traveled to Las Vegas from his home in Albuquerque, N.M., to ring in the New Year for one reason: “So I don’t get a DUI back home.”

Even this year’s comparatively low-flying fireworks and terrible economy couldn’t get Baca down. It’s never a tough year for exterminators, he said. The pests never stop.

Two of those arrested overnight face unspecified felony charges.

A man was taken into custody at Boulder Station on Wednesday night after he claimed to be in possession of explosive material. Police provided no further details about the incident today.

Celebrations in Northern Nevada were called relatively quiet as well. In Reno, 30 people were arrested, most for alcohol-related offenses. At Lake Tahoe, 19 were arrested.

The number of New Year’s Eve visitors to Las Vegas was more than last year’s estimated 284,000 but down from 305,000 in 2006.

Many party-goers blamed the economy for the decreasing number of revelers. Still, they refused to let it spoil their fun.

“I’m not hungry, cold or homeless, so I’m blessed,” said 55-year-old Rhonda Brown, who came to town from Southern California to celebrate with her husband.

The gloomy economy seemed far from the minds of others, including friends Stephanie Lentz and Sarah Bassola, 20-somethings also in town from California, who both wore skirts that revealed plenty of leg.

“You can’t go through life without a tiara,” Lentz said as the two paused outside Bally’s to buy two of them, for $2 a piece.

“If you’re a girl, you need a tiara,” agreed Bassola.

The two said they were staying warm late Wednesday with the help of a little alcohol, which, after a while, “just makes you numb,” Bassola said.

Officials for the Fremont Street Experience downtown said 30,000 people celebrated the new year there, a record crowd for the attraction.

Review-Journal writers Richard Lake and David Kihara and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.