Sheriff Says Cars Towed At Trick Or Treat Event Were Blocking Access Or View Of Road

LEE COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson says he stands by his deputies who were forced to have several cars towed from a neighborhood many say was overrrun with trick or treaters.

Tuesday evening, residents of Garden Park Estates held a community wide trick or treat event.  The event was posted on social media and attracted large crowds.

Sheriff Johnson says the entrance and exit to the subdivision was blocked by cars that had been parked and left unattended as people walked throughout the neighborhood.

In all, six cars were towed and the sheriff says there were reports of people blocking residents’ driveways, tearing up yards and even damaging a mailbox.

“There’s one common thread, among the ones praising us for what we did and the ones complaining about what we did and the common thread was, it was a mess. It was pure chaos. Everybody admits that, this is not like the sheriff’s department saw one car sitting on the side of the road and could have made another choice, there’s a thousand different things we could do, we dealt with the situation at hand, immediately,” Sheriff Johnson said.

Sheriff Johnson says no citations were written and nobody was jailed.  He encourages home owners associations to hire private security to help handle events with large crowds.

Below is Sheriff Johnson’s statement.

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018, there were numerous calls that came through 911 regarding traffic on Birmingham Ridge Road and Garden Park Subdivision, vehicles parked on private property, parked vehicles in the roadway restricting access to the road, and property damage. It was even reported to us that a child being hit while trick-or-treating. Deputies responded and attempted to direct traffic flow. Traffic was not able to flow due to vehicles parked in the roadway.

Out of hundreds of vehicles, a total of six unattended vehicles were towed due to obstruction. Deputies also made sure they had rides home once they returned to the area where they were parked. A good intention turned out to be total chaos and risked the safety of many people. Unfortunately, the Sheriff’s Department is called in to deal with it. I take full responsibility for the decisions that were made on behalf of the department.

Promoting this event on a night, other than Halloween, also created a bigger response to a very congested area. These neighborhood roads are not designed for the flow of traffic that was encountered. Some of the complaints even came from the volunteer fireman who had stopped to assist.

One of my department’s first and foremost responsibilities is for the safety of the community. We try to be understanding of special occasions when enforcing the law. However, this was not simply about heavy traffic or targeting a specific event. This was a safety issue.

Due to the number of deputies and resources available, our office is not able to provide traffic assistance to one certain area while ignoring service to other areas.

In the future, for anyone planning such a large event, it is critical to have the proper resources that could alleviate the problems that occurred last night. My suggestion is to have volunteers, proper lighting, available parking, traffic plans, etc. in advance. A detailed plan of traffic flow is a must.

I am including several comments received regarding this event, with many being residents in this area:

• “I have never seen anything like the chaos that happened tonight. People walking in the middle of the road not allowing cars to pass, cars parked all over the place, people cussing homeowners who asked they move their cars out of their yard, and so on. What could have been a nice event was a mess due to the lack of civility of others.”
• “I am so glad there was no medical emergency as there was no getting in or out of the neighborhood. The biggest problem were the cars parked in the middle of road with no one around.”
• “I am appreciative of the professionalism of the deputies that were on the scene trying to help. I witnessed them being screamed at and talked to like they were not even human beings. They maintained order and continued to assist. My hat is off to them.”
• “As a resident I have never seen the neighborhood this congested. It took me over an hour to get my family home. While I am all for kids having fun, this was dangerous. People and vehicles blocked the roads where no cars could even move.”
• “We do not live out there. We came to trick-or-treat based on the social media posts that invited all to come. While the homeowners were gracious and kind, I saw people who did not live there take advantage of the kindness by parking in yards, blocking traffic, and then screaming at the officers like it was their fault.”
• Thankful for response last night. Things were dangerous last night. We could not get in and out of the subdivision. Those parked illegally have no one to blame but themselves.
• While no one could have foreseen how chaotic it was going to be last night, it has never been in the 14 years I have lived here. While usually congested, you could always get in and out. There is no excuse for the way the roads were blocked and the way people were just walking in the middle of the street so that traffic could not pass. Thankfully there was no medical emergency as they would not have been able to get in or out.
• “Even if this information was shared on social media, there is no excuse for people to make some of the decisions they did such as parking in the street where those of us following the law could not maneuver trying to exit the area.
• “I don’t live in that neighborhood but was traveling on Birmingham Ridge Road. Do the people that parked in the road not understand how difficult that road is to navigate when there are not extra issues? The road is hilly and curvy. There is a huge curve there. There is NO excuse for people thinking that parking and jamming up a public roadway is okay. It took us over an hour to get home coming down Birmingham Ridge Road.”

I hope the public will understand that the Sheriff’s Department did not set out to on a mission to stop this event. We were responding to numerous calls to fix a problem that already existed. I will continue to strive to provide a fun but safe environment for all of our citizens.

Sheriff Jim H. Johnson