Matias Bervejillo, UO junior, spent a night in jail for an open container violation on the Friday before Halloween. He said, “If I would’ve known that I would have gone to jail because of holding a container, I don’t think I would have even drank or done anything that night. I would have just been scared of the police, which is not something you want people to be. You don’t want people to be scared of you.”

According to UO Police Department’s PIO Kelly McIver explains the possible ramifications of being cited with this specific offense. McIver said, “It’s a misdemeanor criminal offense, so it is something that is open to a fine. Could be open to jail time.”

Because of the no tolerance policy exercised by Eugene Police Department, Matias was sent to county jail with a bail set at $200.

Matias said, “We had people that wanted to bail us out, but we had no communication with them. There was the famous phone call that you get, it only called landlines, and we’re in a university town. I would love to see how many university students have landlines. The police have to evolve with how people actually communicate, and people don’t communicate like that.”

In West and South Eugene, over 50% of open container violations have been given to university students. Other offenses that could get you put into jail by EPD are giving false information to a police officer, disorderly conduct, or prohibited noise.