The early St. Patrick's Day party happened in the area of Hudson Avenue and Ontario Street in Albany. It's an area where some UAlbany students live, but officials say some students from other colleges could face disciplinary action too.
Video posted on YouTube shows the scene on Hudson Avenue Saturday morning. Days later some of the damage is still left behind.
"You can clearly tell someone was partying on top of my car," said Chris McKessy, a UAlbany student.
He says the damage on his car is mild. Another car, shown in a video posted online, was pushed across the street then stomped and banged on it until the roof caved in.
On top of that, the videos and stories heard from witnesses tell of fights, TV's thrown from windows, even beer bottles flying through the air.
"A kid was jumping off the roof here next door it was just mayhem," said Anthony Buckley, another UAlbany student.
"I moved my car as soon as I came down around 5. At that point people were throwing beer bottles and snowballs at cars moving," said Jason Corrigan. He isn't even a student and wasn't attending the party, but says he was awakened by the noise around 2 a.m. in the morning.
Albany police, the Albany County District Attorney, and local colleges say that behavior will not be tolerated.
"Some of these kids who thought they could come to Albany and use it as their playground and thought they would leave with a degree are going to leave with a conviction," said Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares says that more than 40 students have been criminally charged with everything from violations to felonies and he says more charges will come.
Officials are using YouTube video and video from police officers and police cars to identify more people involved.
"For many students it was the day after when that hangover set in and that the pain was coming, but let me deliver this message to many of you who felt or believe you got away with something - the pain is forthcoming," said Soares.
The people FOX23 News spoke with say those who are responsible for the destruction should be held accountable.
"If you were foolish enough to be destroying someone else's property let alone on camera then consequences you get you deserve," said Corrigan.
"You have to draw the line when an officer is asking you to leave and you are chucking a bottle at his head," said McKessy.
The students FOX23 News spoke with hope the small part of the student body that allegedly created the destruction won't ruin it for all students.
About 17,000 students attend the university. Officials say they are looking at about 100 to 150 people involved in this situation.
The University of Albany President released a statement today apologizing for this behavior saying the university is disgusted too. The president's message says the university will work with officials to identify those involved and discipline them.
The Albany police chief says officers started to get the situation under control around 6:45 a.m. Saturday morning and that things were calmed down within an hour. He says a majority of the department was scheduled to work because they expected there to be some situations. But they never expected what did happen, and that it would happen so early. He says next year they will have officers in place even earlier.
