Violence, arrests follow NCAA final 

By staff and wire reports
 

By Roberto Borea, AP Revelers around a fire near the University of Maryland campus after the Terrapins won the NCAA title.

Fans — some of them violent — hit the streets of College Park and Bloomington Tuesday night following Maryland's 64-52 victory over Indiana for the NCAA basketball championship. 

The Maryland crowd turned riotous, breaking the window of a bicycle shop, throwing bottles and other objects at police and lighting bonfires. 

Several officers suffered minor injuries when they were struck by thrown objects, said state police Lt. Bud Frank. 

Authorities made 15 arrests, with charges ranging from aggravated assault to disorderly conduct, an official said. 

"This is terrible. We've finally started to lose the reputation as the Len Bias death school, and now we're known as the riot school," said student Josh Fingold, 21, referring to the 1986 cocaine overdose death of the Maryland basketball star. 

In Bloomington, about 40 people were treated for injuries including burns, cuts and too much alcohol, a Bloomington Hospital official said. Flying debris caused head cuts for two state troopers, who required stitches, and minor injuries to 21 officers, officials said. 

Officers used with tear gas, sending hundreds of students and fans from an intersection near the edge of the IU campus. 

Police said they arrested about 30 people on charges including public intoxication, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. Four others were charged with battery on a police officer. 

The destruction included torched couches and trash bins, and toppled street signs and mail boxes. 

"When students started getting pelted with bottles that's when we decided to move and disperse the crowd," Bloomington Police Capt. Mike Deikhoff said. "If the crowd hadn't started throwing beer bottles and setting fires we wouldn't have had to act."
 

	By Nick Wass, AP
	Maryland fans watch the NCAA championship game at Cole Field House in College Park, Md.

The damage in Maryland did not appear to be as bad as after last year's Final Four loss to Duke when one bonfire caused an estimated $500,000 in damage and disrupted cable service when it burned through a fiber optic line. 

This year, Maj. Jeff Cox of the Prince George's County police, said most of the revelers did not cause trouble, blaming a few rogues. 

"I wish I knew why we keep having this problem. I'm hoping tonight we found the formula for taking care of it," Cox said.