The Associated Press

ATHENS, Ohio - Rioting partiers at an annual Halloween bash started fights, lit couches on fire and threw bottles at officers in what police called "the worst event to date."

City and campus police arrested or ticketed nearly 100 people overnight Saturday and responded to nearly 20 fights and at least five fires, authorities said.

A man's leg was slashed so badly in one fight that it might require amputation, police said. A rape on Ohio University property was also reported, and officers investigated several thefts.

"This event was far and away the worst event to date," Chief Rick Mayer said in a prepared statement. "It stretched and broke the ability of the department to respond to the needs of the public."

The man stabbed was one of two men attacked when they tried to stop another man from assaulting a woman, police said. The second man coming to the woman's aid was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, and remained in stable condition Sunday with a collapsed lung, police said. An officer was assaulted when he arrived at the fight; he was treated at a hospital and released.

Police said they caught two suspects in the stabbing later in Nelsonville. No names or other details were released.

About 5 a.m., a crowd set five bonfires using couches and other materials, turned over a car and threw bottles at firefighters and police in riot gear.

Unusually warm weather brought a larger crowd than previous years, police said. No crowd estimate was available.

There were 66 arrests Saturday and early Sunday morning, following 15 arrests Friday, police said.

Four university students were among the 30 arrested or ticketed by campus police, spokesman Jack Jeffery said. If any students were involved in the fires or assaults handled by the city force, the university would review the cases for possible discipline, he said.

Last year, 96 people were arrested over Halloween weekend, authorities said.

The university does not sponsor the annual street parties, with drinking, outdoor bandstands and costume parties, that draw thousands downtown in the city 65 miles southeast of Columbus.

A telephone message seeking more comment was left at a listing for a Richard Mayer in Athens, and police dispatchers Sunday would not relay a message to the chief.