Aspen police made six arrests in three separate incidents of public alcohol consumption at the Pitkin County Library this week.

The benches outside of the library, on Galena Plaza, have long been a refuge for Aspen’s few transients and homeless people. They can often be seen drinking from brown bags in the afternoon, but their brushes with police — who are headquartered just across the plaza — are ordinarily limited to when the men fight or harass passersby.

This week, however, police summonsed the men for simply drinking in public.

Last Friday, police arrested two men — aged 44 and 50 — for drinking cans of beer outside of the library. The following afternoon they collared a 47-year-old man who was drinking a large can of Budweiser.

On Monday, the same man was arrested — with two other transients — for openly drinking on the same spot. According to a police report, responding officers asked the men why they continued to drink there when they had been repeatedly contacted by officers. The men allegedly said they had been drinking there for 15 years, and would continue to do so because it is close to a liquor store.

Police Chief Richard Pryor said the library crowd was not the department’s highest priority, but that, because the men have caused some recent disturbances, his department is patrolling the area more regularly.

He added that some of the homeless drinkers themselves have been calling police to complain about each other.

“It’s been a self-evolving thing this week,” Chief Pryor said.

In other crime news:
— A local homeless man was arrested twice this week for incidents involving handheld weaponry.

Friday night, the 44-year-old allegedly pulled a knife on another man outside of the Aspen Store at Local’s Corner. He told police he pulled the knife because the man was following him and had threatened him. Both were arrested for harassment.

The alleged knife-wielder was picked up again Wednesday evening, after he allegedly stole a pouch of rolling tobacco from City Market. A search by police outside the store allegedly turned up an unopened Bugler Tobacco container in his sock and a set of brass knuckles in his pocket.

Brass knuckles are outlawed in Colorado, so the man was arrested for possession of an illegal weapon and petty theft.

— A Montgomery, Ala., man landed in the Pitkin County Jail on Saturday night after wearing out his welcome with guests in a Stonebridge Inn hotel room. They had invited in the 36-year-old, but they asked him to leave when he started annoying them and making them uncomfortable.

He left the room, but allegedly stayed in the hallway banging on the door. He was arrested for harassment.

— As the Jazz Aspen Snowmass concert ended Sunday night, a 34-year-old Basalt woman was arrested for allegedly slapping her older sister in the face. She was charged with disorderly conduct.

— Two men were cited for trying to enter the Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival without tickets.

On the first night of Widespread Panic, a 46-year-old man from Buena Vista was spotted entering through a hole in the concert fence, with his bike and dog in tow.

A second man, from Oak Creek, was booted and ticketed after allegedly asking festival-goers leaving the VIP patron area for their wristbands.

Both men were fined $150.

— Police reported five drunken driving incidents in the upper Roaring Fork Valley over Labor Day weekend.

On Friday at approximately 10:30 p.m. an 18-year-old was pulled over by a Pitkin County sheriff’s deputy for speeding on Highway 82. He allegedly smelled boozy but passed a roadside test. He was not charged with drunken driving, but was cited for speeding and underage drinking.

That same night, a driver was allegedly spotted drinking while pulling into the Basalt Shell gas station. The driver, Josue Alvarado, 21, was arrested for driving drunk and without a license.

A man leaving the Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival Saturday night allegedly drove the wrong way down the one-way Burnt Mountain Circle. Police stopped the man, William Koetting, 51, of Aspen, and allegedly found him intoxicated. They arrested him for drunken driving.

Police say they spotted a 23-year-old Grand Junction man driving down Main Street on Sunday evening without his headlights on, weaving and speeding. The driver, Jeremy McDonald, was arrested for drunken driving, driving with an excessive blood-alcohol content, driving with a revoked license, speeding and weaving.

After 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Basalt Police Sgt. Stu Curry pulled over a driver with “30 or so” balloons pouring out of his car onto Highway 82. The driver, Eliodoro Diazbarriga-Arana, 38, allegedly said he was coming from a birthday party. He failed a roadside sobriety test.

“That was the easiest probable-cause I’ve had for pulling somebody over,” Sgt. Curry said.

— Compiled By Andrew Travers