Syracuse, NY - The excitement of this year's state fair had an intoxicating effect on many of its 900,000 visitors. But for some, the fun spun out of control.
Consider these criminal charges filed in Geddes Town Court during the 12-day extravaganza:
• A Parish woman who tried to urinate on a trooper and later threatened to rip his face off and "eat it like a cannibal."
• A South Carolina vendor charged with DWI on a golf cart.
• A Lakeland man who struck a trooper with a beer at the Hank Williams Jr. concert.
It wasn't just drunk people who got into trouble. For the second year in a row, someone was charged with leaving a dog locked in a car in a state fair parking lot. Unlike last year's case, this dog survived. In another noteworthy case, a Syracuse man wanted on a warrant was charged with assaulting a trooper.
It's worth noting the fair's most violent crime didn't result in any charges: three Syracuse teenagers were stabbed Aug. 28 on the Midway, but no suspects were ever found. Police called the victims uncooperative.
» Graphic: How many arrests at the State Fair?
The good news? There were fewer total arrests this year than any year since the court clerk started keeping track in 2005, and nearly half as many as last year. Troopers made 34 arrests, compared to 59 a year ago. There were no charges for passing fake money - a popular crime in previous years - and only one arrest for an illegal weapon - in this case, a switchblade knife not used in a crime.
As in previous years, though, there were plenty to keep troopers busy.
Perhaps the most out-of-control fairgoer said she doesn't remember anything before waking up in a jail cell. Kimberly Staring, 49, of Parish, told Syracuse.com she takes bipolar medication and has no memory of her actions after drinking with a friend on the first day of the fair.
State police provided the following account in court papers:
Staring was arrested while kicking, pushing, screaming and yelling curse words in the dairy barn. She was being aggressive and trying to fight with people.
While in a patrol car, she tried to pull down her pants to urinate in the trooper's face. She got her belt unbuckled and was unbuttoning her pants when the trooper stopped her. He continued to restrain her from taking her clothes off. Staring then aimed a kick at the trooper's head, but the trooper grabbed her leg.
Staring also hurled threats at the trooper:
• "I am going to put a bullet in your head."
• "I am going to rip your face off and eat it like a cannibal."
• "I am going to find your children, gouge their eyes out and feed them to you."
• "I am going to kick your ass."
When she arrived at the jail, Staring urinated in a holding cell. She was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration, as well as violations of harassment and disorderly conduct.
Reached by phone during the fair, Staring said she believes the medication could have played a role in her bizarre behavior, explaining that she had started new medications recently.
"I have to own up to it," Staring said. "I'd like to apologize to the people that I did that to."
In another case, a vendor from South Carolina was accused of drunkenly running over the foot of a fairgoer after dark on Aug. 30. Tracy St. Clair, 41, was charged with drunken driving while steering a golf cart at 10:45 p.m.
And a Lakeland man got himself in trouble after a dispute at the Aug. 30 grandstand concert featuring Hank Williams Jr. A fair security officer said the dispute started between two concertgoers over seats. When told to sit down, Paul Seabrook, 55, refused, according to security officer Derek Tortora.
As the confrontation continued, Seabrook threw a beer, which hit the trooper and another man, Tortora said in an affidavit.
Troopers pulled Seabrook into an aisle, and he continued to resist while they handcuffed him, Tortora said. By the time Seabrook was in custody, there was blood on the ground and Seabrook's head was bloody. Seabrook was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and two violations: disorderly conduct and harassment.
A Homer woman, Diana Oursler, 30, was charged with animal cruelty after leaving a dog in a car during the afternoon of Aug. 28. By the time a tow truck driver saw the dog, it was foaming at the mouth, according to court papers. The windows were cracked, but the temperature inside was 72 degrees and the car was hot to the touch. It comes a year after a dog died in an overheated car at the state fair, sparking outrage from animal rights advocates.
A wanted man also tussled with troopers and wound up with an assault charge, according to court papers. Troopers responding to a reported fight between workers found Jamaine Johnson, 38 waiting for his paycheck near the Zombie ride Aug. 31. A trooper noticed he had an outstanding warrant charging him with a theft in the town of Salina.
When ordered to put his hands behind his back, Johnson became entangled with the trooper and was taken to the ground. A struggle ensued and before Johnson was taken into custody. Trooper Brian Belson suffered scrapes to his left wrist, left knee, left forearm and right elbow. Johnson was charged with felony assault.
Ken Sturtz contributed to this report.