Miami Police Reports 67 Arrests During Ultra Music Festival 2016 | Miami New Times
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Ultra 2016: 67 Arrests Reported, Felonies Way Up UPDATED

After continued efforts to increase safety and security at Ultra Music Festival, Miami police report a decrease in arrests from last year. Felony arrests, however, were up almost 50 percent. For the second year in a row, former Miami Beach police chief Ray Martinez served as the festival's head of...
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After continued efforts to increase safety and security at Ultra Music Festival, Miami Police report a decrease in arrests from last year. Felony arrests, however, were up almost 50 percent.

For the second year in a row, former Miami Beach Police Chief Ray Martinez was the festival's head of security. Tickets were sold to only those 18 or older.  Ultra also had 350 of its own security officers at the event and 300 Miami Police officers in the area.

The result, according to Miami Police: 67 arrests over the three-day festival, down from 76 last year. In 2014, 84 people were arrested. The 2016 count includes 36 misdemeanor arrests (down substantially from last year's 56) and 29 felony arrests (up from 20 last year).

The most common offense was possession of MDMA, with 15 arrests made. That's up from the 10 people arrested with Molly last year. Eight people were arrested for operating a business without a license, five for exposing their sexual organs, and four for possession of both MDMA and marijuana.

The festival's security is already being overshadowed by a tragic event: University of Miami senior Adam C. Levine died after attending Ultra Friday night. An obituary in RestonNow.com, a publication in Levine's hometown of Reston, Virginia, reported he died following complications from a seizure. An official cause of death hasn't yet been released by the Miami-Dade County medical examiner.

Martinez told reporters in a statement: "We don't have many details, but we can tell you that our security personnel noticed he was having difficulties and immediately called Miami Fire-Rescue to get him medical attention. From what we have been told, paramedics initiated medical treatment and transported him to Jackson Memorial Hospital." Martinez said the 21-year-old political science student died at the hospital. 

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Adam Levine passed away last night at Jackson Memorial Hospital....

Posted by UMiami Student Government on Saturday, March 19, 2016

Also, Metromover supervisor Carl Lee Wilt remained in custody Monday after he admitted to raping an unconscious passenger in a utility room. The woman was an attendee of Ultra, visiting from Brazil.

Last year, a Canadian tourist in town for the festivities was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run, and Scottish tourist Shaun Cole was found dead under mysterious circumstances. He was later found to have died after falling headfirst off a building following a day of heavy drinking and cocaine use. His blood work showed he had taken a recently emerging designer drug called ethylone, or bk-MDEA, that’s now regularly marketed on the street as molly.
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