Stabbing, burglaries, overturned vehicles, fires and fights haunted the streets of Athens this weekend when the annual Halloween festival became too large to control.

“This event was by far the worst event to date,” said Rick Mayer, chief of the Athens Police Department. “It stretched and broke the ability of the department to respond to the needs of the public.”

Sixty-six arrests were made on Saturday night and 15 on Friday night, plus many citations were given for offenses such as underage consumption or possession, Mayer said.

Among these incidents was the stabbing of two individuals on Columbus Road, when, according to a news release from the Athens Police Department, a male assaulted a female and two other males came to her assistance. A fourth male pulled a knife and stabbed the two who were assisting. One of the victims had his femoral artery severed and may have to have his leg amputated. The other was stabbed multiple times in the chest and suffered a collapsed lung.

The victims have been identified as 20-year-old Ryan Renner from Creola, and Jeremy Kaltenbach, 20, from Chillicothe. Both were transferred to the Ohio State University Medical Center.

Gregory Malta, 19, from Gibsonia, Pa., was charged with two counts of felonious assault after being stopped by police shortly after the stabbing took place.

The events continued into the morning as riots plagued the Mill-Stewart-Palmer area at 5:09 a.m. Five fires were set using couches and other materials.

“Bottles and other items were thrown at officers and firefighters,” Mayer said. “Officers gathered their riot equipment, and with the assistance of OUPD and other agencies, forced the crowd to retreat into their residences. Rioters, however, rolled over one car and attempted to roll at least one other car.”

A news release from the Athens Police Department also noted a stolen vehicle on Ohio University property with two students being drugged by the thief, and a rape on OU property, reported around 7:30 a.m.

“We were keeping officers longer than appropriate and calling officers in too soon after release to get rested for the 7:00 a.m. shift,” Mayer said. “I feel that the number of serious problems created by this Halloween went beyond the capacity of this department and volunteers and placed the public at risk.”

Jack Jeffery, spokesman for OU, said he is concerned by the increase in unruly behavior this year.

“Most in attendance behave responsibly, but some do not. Most arrested were not from OU, but we are concerned about the safety of our students,” Jeffery said.

The investigation into the riots is not complete, Jeffery said. If OU students are found to have been involved, they will face the university judiciaries. Students who are convicted face possible punishments ranging from a letter of reprimand to university expulsion.

Stacey Ballard, a junior in early childhood education at OU, said she was surprised to hear about the riots.

“We saw apartments throwing bottles and chairs across the streets, but I didn’t hear about the riots until the morning. I live right there, and I still didn’t hear anything,” Ballard said.

Ballard said she always feels safe because she makes sure she travels in a group.

“It’s great that the police are there, too. They sort of step back into the shadows and let the students have their fun. But they’re there if you need them,” Ballard said.

Ballard said most of the problems were from students who came from other colleges.

“People from other colleges don’t have anything invested in our campus or in our school, so they really don’t care,” Ballard said. “I heard that a lot of the problems were from people at Ohio State.”

Ryan Heflin, a senior in sports and leisure studies at OSU, attended the Halloween festival at OU, but said he didn’t see any of the violence or riots.

“It was crazy. It was sort of like a Mardi Gras,” Heflin said. “All of the people had on costumes, girls were flashing themselves on top of buildings and hanging out of windows. It looked like something you would see on ‘Girls Gone Wild.’ ”

Heflin said he felt safe because he had friends at OU but thought more police were needed.

“There were just too many people. Police were trying to block off roads, and people would just move blockers and drive on the roads anyway,” Heflin said.

The university community and police department are pushing for an increase in police presence.

“Last year I stated, ‘My strong feeling is that we, law enforcement, are sorely understaffed for this event,” Mayer said. “The officers are stretched to a great extent and cannot adequately cover the event. That creates a potential for problems in the area of crowd safety that can only be addressed through a marked increase in available officers.’ “