Posted on 02/11/2014 5:49:26 AM PST by Iron Munro
TAMPA — The first Friday of every Florida State Fair brings droves of Hillsborough teens, who get the day off from school and free admission. And each year, shortly after sunset, dozens of unsupervised minors start stampeding through the midway, the Sheriff's Office says.
They're fighting each other, robbing other patrons, stealing food and battering deputies.
The phenomenon is so common, deputies even have a term for it: They call it "wilding."
Authorities said the lawlessness is mostly confined to the first Friday. But they've never publicly shared details until Monday — after several media outlets, including the Tampa Bay Times, reported that 14-year-old Andrew Joseph III was kicked out of the fair Friday by deputies before he died while crossing Interstate 4 that night.
That day, approximately 200 deputies could not handle the chaos, sheriff's officials said. Some witnesses estimated 150 to 200 teens running wild.
A commander with 30 years of experience, Maj. Tom Feeney, said it's the worst thing he has seen in law enforcement. He asked the Florida State Fair Authority to shut down the fair around 9 p.m.
As with the other teens ejected before then, Andrew was driven by deputies to Gate 4, along Orient Road. They dropped him off about 8 p.m. and left.
Some deputies are posted near that gate but are not tasked with watching the juveniles. Deputies do not call the children's parents. The Sheriff's Office expects they will be picked up just like they were dropped off earlier.
Deputies were so overwhelmed Friday they could not "baby sit" the juveniles at Gate 4, sheriff's Col. Jim Previtera said Monday. Feeney had already called for backup to help with the out-of-control midway.
Street deputies arrived to help the on-site deputies, who are paid by the Fair Authority.
Teens were stealing candy apples and throwing them at deputies, Previtera said. One tried to launch a hand truck at a deputy, and another robbed a woman in a wheelchair of her purse, he said.
Deputies ejected 99 people and arrested 12 others. Of those 111 people, 16 were young adults. The remaining 95 were age 17 and younger .
Deputies probably would have arrested more people, Previtera said, but they often had to disengage for their own safety.
Andrew, a Riverview resident and eighth-grader at St. Stephen Catholic School, was not accused of any crimes.
Previtera did not have details of what Andrew supposedly did — only that it was "disorderly conduct" on the midway. He was killed nearly three hours after his ejection while crossing I-4 about 10:45 p.m.
Deputies did not have details about what Andrew did between 8 and 10:45 p.m. Previtera said the agency is sharing all its information with the Florida Highway Patrol.
Andrew's family could not be reached for comment Monday, but on Saturday called their son a sweet, caring young man who got straight-A's and was going to be confirmed at church Sunday.
That's not the profile expected of someone wilding, though a branch of social psychology is devoted to studying "crowd psychology." Individuals in large groups often feel a loss of responsibility for their own behavior. People act differently.
Previtera says the Sheriff's Office met three times last weekend with fair officials and planned to again on Monday. He said they likely will reposition some deputies and consider adding private security this week.
Before next year's fair, the agency plans to coordinate with community groups, including Tampa's Pastors on Patrol, the NAACP and the Sheriff's Black Advisory Council to get the word out that such behavior is unacceptable — like Tampa does before the Gasparilla parade.
The Sheriff's Office will consider other changes, though Previtera stopped short of saying the agency would alter its method for ejecting teens. The agency did not take responsibility for Andrew's death, with officials saying their interaction with him ended with his ejection.
Previtera said he called Andrew's parents on Sunday at Sheriff David Gee's request. A relative picked up Andrew's mother's phone, and Previtera said he briefly explained that he is available to answer any questions Andrew's parents might have.
"It's a tragedy, certainly," Previtera told reporters on Monday. "It's a 14-year-old. It's a tragedy."
The Fair Authority on Monday said in a prepared response that safety is its No. 1 priority, and that it works with the Sheriff's Office to ensure visitors' safety.
The authority is considering options, and while its directors did not commit Monday to anything, possibilities include closing earlier on busy nights and setting a limit for how late students can enter with free tickets.
Hillsborough County School District spokesman Stephen Hegarty said school officials review students' participation in the fair each year — not just misbehavior, but also how they conducted their livestock exhibits and other activities.
Hegarty said the ejections and arrests of teens will likewise be discussed by school and fair officials after next weekend. So far, he said, no proposals have been floated to cancel the students' day off because of the trouble. He said it was still unknown how many of those involved were students from the district.
"Right now, there are no plans to do anything differently," Hegarty said.
rotflmao
You might as well guess. Everything else is racist, what is one more?
I'm familiar with the area. The point where they were dropped him off after being kicked out is about 100 yards or so from where the road, complete with a perfectly fine sidewalk, runs under I-4. In fact, getting up onto I-4 in this area would be kind of difficult.
I have no idea what he was doing up on the interstate, but it wasn't because he had no other options for getting to someplace to make a call. (Not that finding a payphone is much of an issue anymore. Or possible even.)
Negroes. Typical behavior.
Admission free only for the Yutes.
More MSM covering for the yutes. NOTHING showing the perps on the Tampa news outlets at all.
On the Tampa I-275, wrong way driver this weekend. NO INFO on the perp driving the wrong way. All the coverage is about the 4 kids killed in the non-offending vehcile. Total silence on the 5th person, the criminal driver.
Another MSM cover up ... maybe some freeper has learned the truth as the MSM is hiding it.
For some reason, I knew what they meant by “teens”.
Right now, there are no plans to do anything differently,
And everybody knows it.
____________________________________________________________
Similar situation occurred in my home town in Illanoy. We had a Homecoming every August, for years. Bands, floats, picnics..very American. “Teens” were bused in a couple of years ago to enjoy the experience. Fights broke out, mayhem and chaos ensued. Floats and bands cancelled for their own safety..city council eventually cancelled the event alltogether...very sad..and maddening.
and in no time flat
The irony meter just went 'TILT!'
That's the root cause right there, isn't it?
There is actually a perfectly legitimate issue.
The point where he was killed is reported as being near 301, about a mile east of Orient Road where he was dropped off.
301 is a freeway, more or less like an interstate, at this point. There is just no safe way at this point to get from the south to the north side of the interstate.
And I think that’s a bad idea. When roads are built, they should not assume that everybody has a car. They should not create incredibly unsafe barriers to pedestrians or bicyclists.
Soon Political Correctrness will complete the job of destroying what is left of American culture and tradition.
Public events like Fairs, Carnivals and Parades will start closing down due to the black thug problem and reluctance of law enforcement to deal with it.
We are going to end up living in a more populous version of South Africa.
New “post-racial” rule for interpreting press dispatches from the US media: No races were mentioned in the story, therefore 100% of the miscreants were, in fact, black.
Common sense and the perfect answer. (Except, I probably would've suggested semi-trailers instead of paddy wagons. Holds more yutes.)
Sick of uncivilized savages being held to a lower standard than normal people.
Yeah, like livestock exhibitors are even a small part of the problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.