About 100 seats and 25 signs were damaged at Candlestick Park in the San Francisco 49ers’ regular season swan song on Monday night, where at least one person was hurt and 30 others arrested, police said.
Only two seats were stolen but police recovered both while arresting the alleged thief, according to San Francisco police Sgt. Eric O’Neal.
The remainder of the seats and the 25 section and row signs were damaged by fans who attempted to remove them as souvenirs, O’Neal said.
The fans attended Monday’s game at the 53-year-old Candlestick Park—the 49ers’ final regular season game there—to watch the home team defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-24.
A least one person was reported injured during the game but not seriously, police Sgt. Danielle Newman said.
Police said this morning that 30 people were arrested for property destruction and drunkenness; seven received citations; and 81 people were ejected from the stadium during the game.
Some drunkenness suspects had to be taken to jails in police substations because the San Francisco County Jail could not handle additional people in that condition Monday night, which is not unusual, Newman said.
The county jail has limited space, “so once the county jail is full of intoxicated people, they have to start moving them out to the district stations,” the sergeant said.
The county jail being full of those suspected of drunkenness “usually happens during New Year’s Eve,” she said.
Some football fans had to be turned away from the game Monday because the tickets they held were counterfeit, but Newman said she was not sure how many.
Jeff Burbank, Bay City News
