'Raucous' Eagles Fans Tamed In Hatboro Celebration

HATBORO, PA —They lined the streets and celebrated the Philadephia Eagles victory in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night. And now borough officials are gearing up for what they hope will be a Super Bowl victory that will have the borough decked out in green.

Hatboro Mayor Tim Schultz and Borough Manager Diane Hegele thanked the Hatboro Borough Police Department for controlling the crowd that spilled out along York Road Sunday night to celebrate the Birds' victory.

Hatboro is one of the towns in the Philadelphia region —like the Five Points intersection in Levittown —where fans flock to the streets to party for their Philadelphia sports teams after major wins.

Sunday night was no different in the borough in celebrating a tradition that Police Chief Mark Ruegg found records dating back to the Philadelphia Flyers' Stanley Cup championship in 1974.

"I'm very proud of our police department," the mayor said. "I was out there with my heart in my throat. There was a lot of raucous behavior but our police officers remained calm. It was a great celebration and I'm looking forward to another one two weeks from now."

"Thank you for keeping the borough safe," Hegele said. "Let's turn our town green and support local businesses."

Ruegg said in his report to the council that there were no incidents and no arrests on Sunday night and that everybody was "well-behaved."

He said that on Monday he received an email about the measures police departments in Montgomery County should take in preparing for a Super Bowl celebration.

Ruegg said he plans to work on that and Kate Valesky, the borough's fire marshal and emergency management coordinator, said she will assist the police chief.

Ruegg said he reviewed records of borough sports celebrations and found that there were 62 arrests when the Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and nine more the following day.

"Luckily, we've had zero," he said.