Music in the Air at Kellogg Park: Open Container, Disorderly Conduct, and OWI Charges from Friday Night Crowds in Plymouth

Every Friday from May through September, downtown Plymouth fills up for the Music in the Air concert series. The crowds flow between Kellogg Park, the restaurants along Main and Ann Arbor Trail, and the bars and breweries that line downtown. It is one of the best nights of the week in Plymouth — and it is also one of the most active for police contact and arrests.

This is a practical guide to the charges that actually come out of these Friday nights, where the cases are heard, and what you should do if you or someone you love was caught up in something.

Open Intoxicants in a Motor Vehicle

Michigan's vehicle open-container law lives in MCL 257.624a. It is a misdemeanor to transport an open or uncapped alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a vehicle. The charge does not require that anyone was drinking from the container at the time — just that it was open, in the passenger area, and accessible. A common Friday night fact pattern: someone leaves a downtown restaurant with a partially full beer in a to-go cup, gets in a friend's car, and is stopped a few blocks later.

Public Consumption Ordinances

Public alcohol consumption in Plymouth is generally addressed by city ordinance rather than state law. The City of Plymouth prohibits drinking on public sidewalks, in Kellogg Park, and on most public property outside of designated areas or licensed premises. Some Michigan cities have created “social district” zones where you can carry an alcoholic beverage in an approved marked cup within posted boundaries — but step outside those boundaries and you are subject to the ordinance.

Local ordinance citations carry fines and can affect your record more than people realize. Many show up on background checks despite not being state criminal convictions.

Disorderly Conduct

Under MCL 750.167, disorderly conduct is a 90-day misdemeanor that covers a wide range of conduct: public intoxication, fighting, jostling, indecent or obscene conduct in public, or refusing to disperse on lawful police command. Friday night cases often involve people who were not doing anything criminal alone but became uncooperative or argumentative when an officer approached.

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI)

OWI under MCL 257.625 is the most serious of the typical Friday-night charges. A first offense is a misdemeanor with these maximum penalties:

• Up to 93 days in jail (180 days for a High BAC of .17 or above),
• Fines of $100–$500 ($200–$700 for High BAC),
• 30-day hard license suspension followed by 150 days of restricted driving,
• Six points on your driving record,
• Possible vehicle immobilization,
• Substance abuse assessment and treatment, and
• An ignition interlock device on any restricted license for High BAC convictions.

Officers frequently make stops on Ann Arbor Road, Main Street, Sheldon, and Five Mile in the hours immediately following downtown events.

Operating While Visibly Impaired (OWVI)

Even with a BAC below .08, you can be charged with OWVI under MCL 257.625(3) if your driving showed visible impairment. OWVI carries similar penalties to OWI but with shorter license sanctions (90 days restricted, no hard suspension) and four points instead of six. Many OWI cases resolve as reductions to OWVI when there are problems with the chemical test.

Assault and Battery

Fights between groups of friends, fights with strangers, and pushing incidents during late-night crowd flow are charged as assault and battery (MCL 750.81 — 93-day misdemeanor), aggravated assault (MCL 750.81a — one-year misdemeanor) if anyone is hurt, or felonious assault (MCL 750.82 — four-year felony) if a weapon or anything used like a weapon was involved.

Where Plymouth Cases Are Heard

All of the above charges arising in the City of Plymouth and Plymouth Township are arraigned in the 35th District Court in Plymouth. Your first court date is the arraignment, where the judge will inform you of the charges, set bond, and impose conditions like no-alcohol or no-contact orders.

What to Do If You Were Cited or Arrested

• Write down what you remember about the incident while it is fresh.
• Save your receipts, ticket stubs, and any messages from the evening.
• Do not post about the incident on social media.
• If you refused a chemical breath test after arrest, mark the 14-day deadline on your calendar to request an Implied Consent hearing with the Michigan Secretary of State.
• Contact a defense attorney before your first court date.

What Defense Looks Like

Even on what looks like a simple case, there are real issues to challenge: the legality of the stop, the reliability of field sobriety tests in a downtown environment, the calibration and operation of the DataMaster or Intoxilyzer breath test, and the officer's observations and reports. In ordinance and disorderly cases, the question of whether the conduct actually fit the legal definition is often the entire defense.

Don't Let Friday Night Define Your Future

If you found yourself on the wrong side of a citation or arrest after a Plymouth Music in the Air night, Aaron J. Boria has handled hundreds of these cases in the 35th District Court. Call Boria Law at (734) 453-7806 to talk through your options before your first hearing.