Lucas Lee of River Grove was walking from his friend’s apartment to a car with an almost empty beer can when he was ticketed for having an open container of alcohol.

Ashley Hensel of Mokena was holding an empty cup she said was not hers when she was busted.

They were two of the more than 60 people who were ticketed for a having an open container over the weekend.

Hensel had been walking down Greenbrier Road with some friends when police on foot approached them, she said.

The police weren’t targeting the right people, she said.

“The cops should have singled people out who were drunk and stumbling,” Hensel said.

DeKalb Police Lt. Jim Kayes said officers aren’t going to sit on the sidelines and wait until something happens. They will take a pro-active approach.

Even people with empty containers are fair game. Kayes said people can just dump out bottles or cans when they see police.

Kayes said the liquor law that prohibits citizens from having an open container has three purposes.

These include cutting down on underage drinking and stopping people from carrying glass bottles that can be broken on the ground, against cars or even people.

The final purpose is to protect citizens who are not out drinking at 3 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night.

Eighteen-year-old Brett Novak of Lombard was given a $200 ticket.

He was walking to a party from Burritoville with friends around 2 a.m. when police on foot spotted open containers amongst his group from across the street.

Novak handed his beer off to a buddy, but they were still ticketed for the violation, Novak said.

Novak thought the $200-price tag was a bit extreme for the violation.

“One of the officers even said it was a ridiculous fine just for an open container,” Novak said.

However, the $200 fine was not determined by the DeKalb Police Department. The amount was set by the DeKalb City Council.