Burning Man founder Larry Harvey’s son got busted entering the festival for possession of psychedelic mushrooms. Tristan Harvey was in a car with other friends who also got in trouble pulling into the 2018 gathering.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada says that Tristan Harvey was pulled over with two friends in the car because the vehicle was missing a license plate. Harvey, whose father passed away in April at the age of 70, was found to be in possession of the shrooms, says TMZ.
The sheriff says that per procedure, a dog sniffed over the car and honed in on Harvey and the mushrooms, and also found drugs on the other passengers. The police added that Harvey was driving on a suspended driver’s license.
“He was cited for possession of an illegal substance and driving with a suspended license. He was not arrested and told to go on his merry way, sans mushies.”
The female passenger also got cited for mushrooms and released.
“He was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, but cops aren’t saying what they found.”
In total, 44 people were arrested and 53 more were cited for various reasons.
This sensory festival recently wrapped—take a look back at some past awe-inspiring scenes there https://t.co/w98T9Wgfe7
— Nat Geo Travel (@NatGeoTravel) September 8, 2018
Your EDM quoted the local law enforcement that said the arrests this year are on par with past years’ arrests. Sheriff Jerry Allen said that he’s not under the impression that heavy partying isn’t going on.
“People are still leaving the playa and recovering from a week of partying. They are trying to orient themselves and coming to terms with reality.”
Local and federal officials were on the scene throughout the festival. Most of the arrests were related to drug possession and drug trafficking. This year, 70,000 people made the pilgrimage to Black Rock City for the 10-day long gathering.
CBS Los Angeles says the exception to this rule was an arrest of a West Hollywood man just outside of the festival who car-jacked a woman at knifepoint and then got into an altercation with police and a police dog.
Tiago Gomez, 32, was arrested outside of a Reno, Nevada restaurant after stealing the car outside of the festival grounds.
“Gomez allegedly kicked and beat the police dog before deputies arrested him. He was being held without bail in the Washoe County jail Wednesday on suspicion of mistreating a police animal and resisting a public officer.”
Authorities say that it’s possible that more charges await Gomez, but his crime was unusual for Burning Man.