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Gunfire erupts quiet Beach Party By Ted Streuli
The Daily News Published April 22, 2002GALVESTON — What had been a fairly uneventful Beach Party weekend erupted in gunfire Sunday evening when at least four gunshots were fired at 33rd Street and Seawall Boulevard.
Details were sketchy, but apparently, no one was injured in the shooting, which occurred at 7:45 p.m. as crowds began to thin.
Peace officers swarmed in and detained at least 10 people, including several who ran from the scene. Initial reports indicated police were also looking for occupants of a Ford Expedition, which may have been involved in the incident.
Galveston police were taking statements from the detainees Sunday night. No charges had been filed at presstime.
Before Sunday night, police had arrested 75 people over the weekend, but most were misdemeanor charges and police said the weekend went smoothly.
Police Sergeant Phillip Morris worked on patrol during the event.
“Comparatively speaking, considering the number of people here, they’ve been very well behaved,” said Morris, who commented before Sunday night’s melee. “Other than a couple of robberies, we haven’t had any other major incidents. We made probably half a dozen gun cases.”
Morris said Beach Party was calmer than Mardi Gras.
“We probably had more rowdy people at Mardi Gras than Beach party this year,” said Morris. “This doesn’t put quite the number of people on the island that Mardi Gras does, but we haven’t had nearly as many in jail.”
Police records showed Beach Party had fewer than half the number of arrests made during this year’s first Mardi Gras weekend.
“This year’s Beach Party, the traffic was better than Mardi Gras,” Police Capt. Brian Riedel said earlier in the day. “We had some gridlock, but everybody’s ready for it. We’re very lucky. Nobody got seriously hurt; it was pretty orderly. Less and less of our citizenry seems to get out there and get blindsided by it.”
Riedel said the late-night Mardi Gras crowd was more unruly.
“Overall I’d say this crowd gridlocks the city, but the late night crowd that comes for Mardi Gras is more dangerous,” Riedel said.
Police made two narcotics arrests Sunday at seawall hotels.
Police checking rooms at a Holiday Inn reported seeing a hotel guest rolling marijuana into cigars through a room window about 1 a.m.
Police said that when they entered the room, they seized three semi-automatic handguns, $1,029 in cash and about eight ounces of marijuana.
The room’s occupant, a 25-year-old man from Ft. Smith, Ark., was arrested and charged with a third-degree felony for illegal possession of firearms and a state jail felony count of possession of marijuana. Bonds were set totaling $60,000.
Later Sunday morning, an incident at the Hilton Hotel resulted in two arrests.
Police responded to a complaint that there was an odor of marijuana emanating from a fourth-floor room about 4:15 a.m.
Police said the occupants did not immediately open the door.
Officers working outside the hotel at street level reported seeing items thrown from the room’s balcony.
Police said they recovered four pounds of marijuana, 15 bottles of codeine, a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semi-automatic firearm and $8,000 in cash.
A 23-year-old Hewitt man was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, a state jail felony. His bond was set at $5,000.
A 23-year-old Dallas man was also arrested. Charges against him had not yet been determined Sunday afternoon.
Police said they expect to file for warrants against two others in the case.
Police said the other major arrest over the weekend was an aggravated robbery at the Flagship Hotel.
Officers working an extra job in front of the hotel said they were approached by a man about 6:30 a.m. Sunday who said he had been robbed at gunpoint.
According to police reports, the victim said two men approached him, one pointing a gun in his face and demanding his valuables.
The report said the robbers made off with a necklace and $5 cash.
The victim, a 22-year-old Houston man, told police he followed the pair to a room on the fourth floor of the hotel, then returned to the street to get police assistance.
The report said officers entered the room and found seven men, including a 14-year-old who the victim identified as the one who had the gun.
According to the report, police recovered a Glock .45-caliber automatic pistol from the room.
The juvenile was taken into custody, as was an 18-year-old. Both were from Oklahoma City, Okla. The 18-year-old was later released pending an investigation. Email this story.
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