People looking for a good time filled DeKalb’s streets, businesses and residences after official Homecoming festivities were complete Saturday night.

The swell in DeKalb’s weekend population led to several businesses closing, snarled traffic and general misbehavior.

Crowding forced Rosemary Italian Restaurant, 122 S. First St., to close down when crowds gathered because of a rumor that Ludacris, who performed Saturday night at the Convocation Center, would be there.

“We must have had 50 people call to see what time Ludacris was going to be here,” owner Adam Siemiaszko said. “I don’t know how [the rumor] got started.

“One of our servers is his first cousin, and she was hanging out with him before the concert,” Siemiaszko said. “As I understand it, he had chartered a plane out of DeKalb [Taylor Municipal] airport, and was heading to Atlanta right after the concert.”

Concert organizers had booked a room for a post-concert party, Siemiaszko said, but he thought it was going to be a quiet party for some concert workers.

“I had no idea it was going to be so crazy,” he said.

The group began charging party seekers $30 to enter the room, Siemiaszko said. When he realized what was going on, he closed the doors.

A crowd gathered outside the restaurant, and traffic had already become congested.

“People started making a circle around downtown looking for parking,” DeKalb police Lt. Jim Kayes said.

Police had to direct traffic away from the restaurant and from several others, Kayes said.

Lots packed with cars had to be cleared at 7-Eleven, 930 N. Annie Glidden Road; Lukulo’s, 1101 W. Lincoln Highway; Road Ranger, located near the intersection of Annie Glidden Road and West Lincoln Highway; McDonald’s, 805 W. Lincoln Highway; Village Commons, 901 Lucinda Ave.; and a party on Augusta Avenue, police said.

Across the city, police dealt with traffic problems that DeKalb police Lt. Carl Leoni described as the worst he’d ever seen.

“It was bumper-to-bumper on Annie Glidden northbound and southbound from Lincoln Highway to Hillcrest,” Leoni said.

“You can only fit so many cars there. People were stopped on the road, and they turned on their blinkers and waited like nitwits to get in,” Kayes said.

Police spent 30 to 45 minutes each time they cleared parking lots, Kayes said. Many of the 28 DeKalb officers on duty Saturday night were working traffic.

“I could have used a half-dozen more,” Leoni said. “We were pretty much stretched to our limit.”

DeKalb police issued 18 citations for liquor violations. Citation numbers from state police should be released today.

State troopers assisted with liquor control and directing traffic.

The main complaint from restaurants was the crowds were so intense, they couldn’t get people to leave at closing time, Kayes said.

It is rumored that a crowd of people commandeered a local fast food restaurant and began cooking their own food, but no arrests were made, and the restaurant manager did not answer phone calls.

A man with a gun in his waistband had been reported at Lukulo’s, police said. He was not located.

“I tried going to that call,” Kayes said, “but I got on Annie Glidden and I couldn’t go anywhere.”

Police were concerned that in an emergency, crews wouldn’t be able to get to the scene, Kayes said.

Police are surveying businesses to estimate losses from theft from the weekend, Kayes said.

“Overall, I think it went pretty well,” he said.

The DeKalb Fire Department reported 55 calls from Friday night to Sunday night.

“We have roughly nine or 10 calls a day, so it was almost twice that,” said Bruce Harrison, assistant chief of operations at the fire department.

Harrison said he was unable to comment on the nature of those calls because of privacy regulations.

Sycamore police reported increased activity in hotels where some revelers were staying.

One incident led to an early morning Sunday arrest.

“We had a disorderly subject flash a hotel employee,” said Lt. Darrell Johnson of the Sycamore Police Department. “He continued on harassing her and eventually his genitalia came in contact with her.”

Matthew Hunt, 18, of Chicago was arrested and charged with battery and disorderly conduct.