Friday, October 16, 1998
Ticket scalpers subject
to arrest in Pasadena
Bruins find out the hard way that selling seats, even for a
loss, is illegal on Rose Bowl grounds
By Ann Hawkey
Daily Bruin Contributor
As Bruin football fans make their traditional Saturday trek to
the Rose Bowl, the last thing they worry about is getting
arrested.
For some students, however, their days of cheering have been
interrupted by this experience.
‘A student came to me who had been arrested and charged with a
misdemeanor for selling two extra tickets for less than face
value,’ said Liz Kemper, director of student legal services.
‘Students are not realizing that it’s not legal to do this, and
then they end up with a criminal record,’ she said.
Pasadena Police have arrested about 25 people near the Rose Bowl
since September for reselling tickets.
David Lindberg, a second-year psychology student, was arrested
outside the Rose Bowl at the Texas game on Sept. 12.
‘I am extremely angry,’ Lindberg said. ‘I feel I was entrapped.
With so many people holding tickets, they came after us and
entrapped us.’
Entrapment is a legal term for luring someone into committing a
crime.
Although state codes do not prohibit selling tickets below face
value, reselling tickets at any price in Pasadena breaks a
municipal code that outlaws conducting business without a
license.
The misdemeanor crime is punishable with a $500 fine, and/or up
to six months in jail.
‘Nobody’s picking on students,’ said Marc Dellins, director of
sports information for the athletic department. ‘It’s a city
ordinance that you can’t resell tickets on the grounds of the
event, either above or below face value.’
Dellins said the athletic department had requested that police
track down people reselling their tickets.
‘We’ve asked the city to make sure the ordinance is upheld,’ he
said.
The Pasadena police said they pay no attention to whether
offenders are students.
‘We always target scalpers, regardless of venue,’ said Janet
Pope, spokeswoman for the Pasadena police department.
Students who have been arrested, however, were unaware of the
municipal code forbidding the resale of tickets and now face
university discipline, as well as a criminal record that could
prevent them from going to graduate school, said Kemper.
Since the offense is minor, however, the university will not
likely take serious disciplinary action.
‘I’m not out to make an example of anyone, but I do think it’s
important for people to be held accountable for their actions,’
said Robert Naples, assistant vice chancellor of student and campus
life.
‘What we’re most concerned about is that we have students that
are informed and that know the laws,’ he said.
Despite the students’ misunderstanding of the law, officers find
no distinction between a scalper trying to make a profit and
students who just want to unload their extra tickets.
Undercover officers work on Rose Bowl grounds and try to target
scalpers, then arrest them after the deal is made.
‘Officers pose as possible buyers,’ said Lieutenant Alex Uribe
of Pasadena police department special operations. ‘The scalpers
then initiate the conversation.’
But Lindberg said that it was the officers, not he, who
initiated the transaction. Lindberg said officers approached him
and asked to buy his tickets even after he told them to buy the
tickets at the sales counter.
When he agreed to sell his tickets, the officers arrested him,
put him in handcuffs and took him to the Pasadena police
department, but he said they failed to read him his Miranda
Rights.
On Thursday, Lindberg made an appearance in court and had his
misdemeanor reduced to an infraction, for which he will pay a fine
of $270.
After meeting with a public defender, Lindberg decided to plead
no contest rather than fight the charge because of the time
involved with a trial.
‘I don’t have time to go to court for all these things,’
Lindberg said. ‘And it’s still not guaranteed that I would
win.’
Although being taken away in handcuffs may seem a rare
occurrence for a UCLA student, Pasadena Police said it is a common
crime at any large event in the city.
In the eyes of the police and the athletic department, a crime
is a crime, no matter who commits it.
‘It’s a serious situation for students,’ Kemper said. ‘It’s
going to be a surprise to most students on campus that this is not
OK.’
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