Fight breaks out at Heritage Festival, Ypsilanti police say
Updated at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Ypsilanti police broke up a crowd of about 150 teenagers after a fight broke out among five of them in the children's area at the Heritage Festival Saturday.
Sgt. Kevin Dorsey said there were no reports of injuries. Earlier reports that someone may have had a gun or been stabbed were not substantiated by police.
It's unclear what started the fight.
Rudy Vaquera of Ypsilanti, who attended the event with his wife, 17-month-old daughter and five other relatives, said the fight brought his wife to tears.
About 10 teenage boys and girls started cursing at each other and throwing punches south of the children's tent, he said. Everyone started scattering. People were leaping over tables and chairs, he said.
"I don't know where these kids came from," he said. "They just came out of the woodwork. They just started flocking there and they just started beating each other...People were getting knocked over. Kids were getting trampled. It was absolutely disgusting."
Ypsilanti police would not release additional details on the incident. Heritage Festival organizers did not return a call.
Comments
Alan Goldsmith
Fri, Sep 4, 2009 : 1:53 p.m.
So were details ever released?
hypsi
Thu, Aug 27, 2009 : 7:59 p.m.
My point exactly. You can find articles through searching and wading through, but by just looking at this blog, the only thing a person can find on the Heritage Festival is this negativity. Thanks for that link. Maybe adding a section to each article with a read more here or see more here or see past articles on a particular subject would help.
hypsi
Thu, Aug 27, 2009 : 7:31 p.m.
What a sad sad story to an otherwise amazing festival. Very upset that this happened, as it makes Ypsi look once again, like the horrible unwanted child, that Ann Arbor likes to comment on. How about having an article that talks about something POSITIVE that came out of the Heritage Festival, is there something like that on here? or did I miss it. If you missed it try this article: http://ypsiciti.com/section/Community/Crowd+braves+rain+to+finish+three-day+festival-article-1120.html
rmvcitizen
Thu, Aug 27, 2009 : 9:18 a.m.
lumberg48108, You clearly weren't there. This thing started 5 feet from me. Dozens? Try 150 plus! Finding no fight? 2-3 kids? Where in the world did you get this? Try at least 10, with a monster crowd growing. These kids were beating each other in the children's area, with children and families running in fear of their lives, mine included. Tables and chairs being smashed as the beaters moved, hurdling my 17 month old daughter's wagon with her in it as my wife was running as fast as she could to the safety of a vendor tent, who by the way, was crouching down behind her table. The only ones who didn't FIND the fight were the police who confronted the group AFTER they beat each other in the children's area, and then trampled each other to the south side of the park where the police confronted them, AFTERWARDS. Yes, they did a good job of dispersing them. Clearly, you either were not there, or were not in the children's area when it happened. My wife and family were in tears as well as many others. To trivialize this horrible event as you did without being there to feel the fear and misery of those in the middle of it is wrong on every level. I only hope that you will never have to experience anything like this in your lifetime. I hope you get an opportunity to read this. I understand the police can't be everywhere, all the time. I would pay an entrance fee to go directly to the Ypsilanti Police Department to pay for additional police presence, especially from the afternoon til closing.
Alan Goldsmith
Wed, Aug 26, 2009 : 1:26 p.m.
That's a bit strange...not releasing information. Thanks for the update.
Alan Goldsmith
Wed, Aug 26, 2009 : 11:32 a.m.
"over the weekend"?
lumberg48108
Wed, Aug 26, 2009 : 8:51 a.m.
Dozens of teenagers running to a "fight" and getting there and finding no fight - well, that can look bad! But a fight between 2-3 teens during a three-day festival that draws near 80,000 is not that big a deal! The Police did a great job of disbursing the teens, most of whom did not know that the brief "fight" had been over long before they got there! It would be nice if the teens in the area, or better yet, the parents, understod their role in the image of local events! They want to come and enjoy these events, then they should have some pride instilled in them that they play a big role too!
Laura Bien
Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 2:53 p.m.
Yep, we saw it while traipsing around HF on Saturday night around 8:45 p.m. While going south through the concession area, a giant crowd of teens ran past us, heading north. We reached the southernmost point of the Riverside Park path only to see 2 police cars pulled onto the path leading from the park's southward parking lot, lights flashing. We hung out for a bit to assess the situation and saw cops turning away groups of teens coming to the fest from the Riverside Arts Center stairs path. "No teens!" the police said, shooing them back towards the stairs. This was around 9 p.m. Continuing our walk around the Fest, we saw one female teen arrested by police at a booth located where the looping path reconnects, near the riverside pavilion. The police took her away, and we overheard remarks about something about "ludes." Ludes? I thought quaaludes were out back when I was in high school. The police acted professionally and alertly, and the incident did not impact our enjoyment of HF. Thanks to the Ypsi police for managing such a giant crowd and for helping us have such an enjoyable time at HF.