Cops disperse Freaknik crowd near Underground

At 10:30 p.m., about 300 partygoers congregated on Peachtree Street near Underground. The crowd was a diverse group, including teenagers in five-inch high heels and super-skimpy mini-skirts and senior citizens.

Police told several men to pull their pants up.

At about 11:15, police had seen enough and roughly 50 SWAT and Red Dog unit officers with flashlights began combing through Underground and ordered people to disperse.

As a helicopter circled overhead, 20 more officers lined Peachtree Street and shouted to the crowd that "it is over, let’s go.”

Police at the scene said anyone at the scene after the nearby Five Points MARTA station closed would be arrested.

Byyo Young, 20, of west Atlanta, said he was at Underground with friends to find "a concert or barbecue."

He was disappointed.

"There’s no music or anything, just people standing next to the police," said Young. "At least there’s a lot of nice ladies to look at."

Underground Precinct Commander Lt. Chris Tiernan said he spotted a group of potential troublemakers early in the evening but officers spoke to the crowd and dispersed them.

“We had some hooligans, but it has pretty much been real quiet,” said Tiernan. “We are letting them hang out until they get bored and go home.”

The crowd began drifting away to the MARTA station around 11 p.m. The Underground parking deck began to empty, and Underground itself was dead, though the floor was littered with fliers announcing parties.

About a dozen police motorcycles continue to circle the block with lights and sirens on, trying to drive away those remaining on the street.

And groups of officers walked through the crowd, forcing people to stay on the sidewalk.

Earlier, police at the scene said the Underground parking lot was full, which is unusual for a Saturday night.

A reporter said more streets were blocked off downtown, including portions of Marietta, Auburn and Spring. Earlier, police closed portions of Wall, Forsyth, Peachtree and Pryor.

Cruisers in the College Park area congested some streets, but otherwise all seems quiet late Saturday evening.

As the crowds grew in the Stone Mountain area, so did DeKalb County's police presence.

Just before 10 p.m. a half dozen police officers pulled into the Memorial Square parking lot, home to several night spots including the Atrium Event Center.

One club manager in the area said the elevated police helps and hurts business. The manager, who asked not to be named, said when police over-saturate the area, would-be patrons don't stop, but neither do those who would cause trouble.

Several hundred teens and young adults waited patiently to enter the Atrium around 11:30 p.m., and event coordinator Davinci Barcelo said he was pleased with the way things were going. Crowd estimates were near 1,000 when counting those who had already entered.

Barcelo said those waiting to enter were the "new generation of partygoers. Where else could these folks go for a pool party on a Friday night?"

Saturday afternoon was more of a Weaknik.

Freaknik was supposed to be Zaundra Haynes’ 24th birthday party. She drove about two hours from her Alabama home to Atlanta to celebrate with her friends.

After finding no party, they spent the weekend shopping.

“It’s kind of sad because I was expecting this huge party,” she said as she snapped photographs in Underground Atlanta. “We’re trying to go to a club and hopefully it will get better.”

Haynes was one of hundreds of people who thronged to Underground Saturday evening searching for a party.

Instead, they found police blocking streets and ordering loiterers to move.

Gary Harvey, owner of Instant Photo of Atlanta, got a permit to sell photo key chains and other memorabilia for Freaknik 2010.

“This don’t even touch other years,” he said. “The police are trying to block the streets and taking away my business.”

Abdujami Allen said he has sold water and soda at every Freaknik. He was hoping to bring in some of that extra money this weekend.

“The people are here, but they’re [the police] running them away,” Allen said.

Del Amin, owner of Haagan-Dazs in Underground, said he was hoping the events coupled with the warm weather would be a nice start to the season. Instead, only a few families lingered in his ice cream shop.

“This is just the local hang-around crowd that is always here,” he said. “There’s no Freaknik and no real business.”

Tre Diggz and half a dozen friends came downtown looking to find some of the sights their older siblings had told them of at the Freakniks past.

“I want to see some action,” Diggz said.

The group was walking across Marietta Street at the intersection of Forsyth Street when an Atlanta Police officer blocking traffic began yelling.

“Get out of the street. Run them over. Let’s go,” the officer yelled toward the line of traffic trying to cross.

The officer declined to give his name.

“I’m mad,” said Dreak Seledon, of Atlanta. “The police be harassing us for nothing. I wish I saw some old Freaknik parties.”

Diggz, Seledon and their friends said they planned to attend a Freaknik-themed party in Rockdale Saturday night.

The streets were dead Friday night too.

Some Freaknik attendants appeared to come out at night after 10 p.m. Friday. People were walking around Downtown Atlanta from Woodruff Park to Marietta Street and from Centennial Olympic Park to Peachtree Street.

Atlanta Police spokesman Sgt. Curtis Davenport said aside from a car that hit a horse carriage while racing on Peachtree Street downtown, there were no major incidents Friday night.

"Atlanta police will maintain its presence in the city, ready to respond to any incident or traffic," Davenport said of the all-hands-on-deck call put out by police this weekend.

“This is Freaknik,” a young woman yelled at Atlanta police ushering the crowds along.

“You guys are going to ruin it for everyone else,” an officer yelled back at the crowd.

-- Reporters Michelle Shaw, Alexis Stevens, Steve Visser and Mashaun Simon contributed to this report.