Arrests at Paradiso Festival at Gorge Amphitheatre center largely on drugs

GEORGE, Wash. – More than a dozen people have been booked into jail, and Quincy Valley Hospital is overwhelmed with patients from a music festival at the the Gorge Amphitheatre.

The number of arrests and medical incidents are running about the same as last year’s Paradiso Festival, when a total of 123 people were treated at the small community hospital and about two dozen people were arrested.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office increased its presence at the concert this year, and the hospital brought in more staff to handle all the patients. Even so, the hospital had to call in even more help Thursday night when the numbers were higher than expected.

“It was definitely busier than the first night of Paradiso last year,” hospital spokeswoman Michele Wurl said.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office released these statistics through 10 a.m. Saturday:

• 14 people booked into Grant County Regional Jail, mostly for drug offenses that included possession of methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, Molly and Ecstasy. Two were booked for vandalism-related offenses.

• Thirteen incidents at the campground, including drugs, lost items, an accident and a theft.

• A disturbance at the concert venue that resulted in two people being kicked out.

• Someone driving to the Gorge displaying a weapon to other motorists. No one was injured.

Wurl said a few patients brought into the emergency room have been transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and some have been transferred to other hospitals around the region. Most of the patients have been treated for drug- and alcohol-related illnesses.