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WLIP News -
Chalk up another hundred or so arrests on opening day of the weekend-long Country Thunder USA country-and-western music even in the western Kenosha County town of Randall. The Kenosha County Sheriff's Department reported massive underage-drinking problems - ninety-four people were caught and ticketed the first day alone - and at least one resultant three-vehicle accident with injuries as a result. Actually the arrests had started before the first guitar was strummed, as eight more arrests were made during the time the crews were setting up equipment. One major theft was reported involving a stolen golf cart that was then crashed into a nearby ditch. Two drunken people were arrested, according to officers. Some arrests have also been made on disorderly-conduct charges and obstruction of law-enforcement procedures, plus at least one sexual-assault report has led to an investigation, though no arrests were forthcoming at this writing.
With hundreds of arrests there on record in 2007 and over a thousand arrests since the beginning of the event in Kenosha County, when it was plagued by reports of unpaid employees and weather-related injuries, the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department is again watching over the revelers, sending out updates about the kinds of citations being issued, plus some colorful details about the kinds of trouble people are getting into. Sheriff David Beth this month ordered the deputies to crack down on unmufflered motorcycles as well, though there was no word at this stage on any resultant arrests on that count.
The Sheriff's Department has had a presence on the festival grounds since 2005. Sixty deputies are on hand, up from 2007's forty-nine deputies on duty every day of this year’s event. Many of the deputies will be in the camping area, where the majority of issues arise. The biggest problem is underage drinking, with about 400 citations issued in 2005 for that offense, Apker said.
"Drinking, overdrinking, and more drinking is the single biggest problem we deal with," said Sgt. Gil Benn of the Sheriff's Department. “Over the past two years we've seen a reduction in the amount of fight calls and disorderliness. A lot of that is prevented by our presence on the grounds".
On July 17, 2007, the camping and trailer set-up night, eight people were cited for underage consumption, and deputies helped with one minor injury accident. Someone fell while sitting on the door sill of a vehicle being driven on an access road. The person was intoxicated, and sitting in the window opening while the vehicle drove down rough terrain. The person had a cut on the face. On July 18, the first day of the festival, 100 citations were issued: 96 for underage drinking, three for obstructing officers and one for a fireworks violation.
The highlight of the night was at 6:30 p.m. Here's what happened, courtesy of Sgt. Gil Benn of the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department:
"Where trouble goes, Sheriff follows! This couldn't have been scripted any better. While Sheriff David Beth and Captain Larry Apker were in the midst of taking local government officials on a "Gator Cart" tour of the Country Thunder grounds, a foot chase ensued! The idea was to give County Board Members a true feel for the breadth of this yearly endeavor. A city alderman was also amongst the group for this educational tour. As luck would have it, the Sheriff's radio crackled that the suspect was fleeing on foot directly toward the tour.
Sheriff Beth positioned to intercept. The suspect turned out to be an extremely intoxicated juvenile running through the camping sites only in his underwear. He may have been quick, but not quick enough. Sheriff Beth leapt from his cart and tackled him to the ground placing him under arrest for Disorderly Conduct. Multiple citations were issued to the juvenile who was eventually released to a sober family member."
DURING THE DAYS OF JULY 19-22, 2006, THE KENOSHA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT ISSUED 416 CITATIONS AND 9 STATE CHARGES TOTALING 425 ARRESTS AT COUNTRY THUNDER 2006.
IN 2005, DURING THE DAYS OF JULY 20-25, 2005, THE KENOSHA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT ISSUED 288 CITATIONS AND 30 STATE CHARGES TOTALING 318 ARRESTS AT COUNTRY THUNDER 2005.
KENOSHA COUNTY ORDINANCE CITATIONS:
• 22 DISORDERLY CONDUCT
• 17 OBSTRUCTING AN OFFICER
• 23 TRESPASS
• 1 FIREWORKS
• 2 LEWD/LASCIVIOUS
• 1 POSSESSION OF TOBACCO BY MINOR
• 1 CARRY A CONCEALED WEAPON
• 5 POSSESSION OF THC (MARIJUANA)
• 344 UNDERAGE DRINK / POSSESSION OF ALCOHOL
416 TOTAL KENOSHA COUNTY ORDINANCES
STATE CHARGES
• 2 DISORDERLY CONDUCT
• 1 RESISTING AN OFFICER
• 1 OBSTRUCTING AN OFFICER
• 1 SEX ASSAULT OF A CHILD
• 1 SUBSTANTIAL BATTERY
• 1 BATTERY
• 2 FOURTH (4TH) DEGREE SEX ASSAULT
9 TOTAL STATE CHARGES
During the 2002 event a lawsuit ensued that was settled on behalf of the County and the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department.
As he attempted to exit the parking lot following a concert on July 18, 2002, a Darrick Lawrence was involved in an altercation with Louis Vena, a Kenosha County police captain. Lawrence claims that he was seized illegally and that Vena used excessive force in removing him from his vehicle but the district court granted summary judgment in favor of Vena and Kenosha County. Lawrence's girlfriend, Jessica Uccardi, and her young daughter were with him in his SUV as he attempted to leave the event. Kenosha County Sheriff's Department deputies William Peck and Chris Peck (no relation) were present to direct traffic. Captain Louis Vena, wearing plainclothes but with a KCSD patch on his cap and his badge and weapon on his belt, was called to assist in this task.
Vena noticed a few cars causing problems by attempting to change lanes. He got out of his car and directed the vehicles safely into their preferred lane. He then noticed a green SUV turning into the path of a compact car. He stopped in front of the SUV and asked the driver, Lawrence, which way he was going. According to Lawrence, Vena pounded on the hood of his SUV to get his attention as he asked this question. Lawrence replied that he was going south and then said, "you don't have to pound on my hood, you ass." Vena then approached the driver's window and told Lawrence that he had not touched his vehicle to make him angry. Lawrence again called Vena an "ass" and said that Vena should not have touched his truck at all.
Because of what was termed Lawrence's irrationally angry behavior, Vena believed that Lawrence might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and asked Lawrence for his driver's license. Lawrence replied "Who are you to ask for my driver's license?" and refused to give it to Vena. At this point, the SUV was in motion and Vena determined that the vehicle was a threat to other cars and pedestrians. Vena ordered Lawrence to stop the vehicle. When he did not, Vena reached into the vehicle and attempted to put it in park. Because he was unable to do so, Vena opened the door, grabbed Lawrence's left arm, and tried again to stop the vehicle. In his deposition, Lawrence admitted that he was attempting to drive away from Vena but said later his foot had slipped off the brake during the scuffle.
Lawrence exited his vehicle and Uccardi moved the vehicle to the road's shoulder. The officers continued to evaluate Lawrence, who stated, "I don't let anybody touch my ----ing truck." Lawrence was informed that if he continued to swear, he would be arrested for disorderly conduct. Vena then told Lawrence that he would be receiving a citation in the mail for failure to obey an officer's signal. Lawrence then indicated that he would like to make a complaint against Vena regarding damage to his vehicle, pointing to two scratches on his driver's side door about three inches in length, claiming that this damage had been caused by Vena, but not mentioning the hood of the vehicle.
Lawrence sued later, arguing that he was subject to a Fourth Amendment seizure when he was forcefully removed from his vehicle by Vena and that he was arrested without probable cause and that Vena's suspicion that Lawrence might have been intoxicated was not reasonable, that Vena used excessive force in making this arrest and caused physical injury to Lawrence's shoulder, and that Kenosha County is liable because it ratified the acts of its agent, Vena, in its official response to Lawrence's citizen complaint.
But in deciding against Lawrence the court said the seizure was not unconstitutional because it was based on probable cause. After Lawrence refused to produce his driver's license, Vena had an "objectively reasonable belief" that Lawrence had violated a Wisconsin law making it a misdemeanor to knowingly resist or obstruct an officer when he is performing any act in his official capacity and with lawful authority (Wis. Stat. § 946.41). Police officers are permitted under the Fourth Amendment to make warrantless arrests for minor criminal offenses - and because Vena's badge and weapon were in plain sight on his belt and he was wearing a Sheriff's Department hat, it was reasonable for Vena to think that Lawrence knew he was a police officer. Therefore, a reasonable police officer would believe that Lawrence knowingly violated the officer's lawful order to produce his license. Probable cause existed and, thus, the seizure was not a constitutional violation.
As to whether Vena applied excessive force in his lawful seizure of Lawrence, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the assessment of reasonableness "must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments — in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving — about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation." (Graham, 490 U.S. at 396)
Similar problems are reported at other Country Thunder events. In April, about 200 people were arrested for underage alcohol-related violations at the Country Thunder concert outside Florence, Arizona, marking the beginning of a crackdown on underage drinking there just as the summer concert season started. Fans as young as 15 were among the 186 arrested for breaking alcohol consumption and sales laws, including people cited for supplying alcohol to underage drinkers. The four-day concert drew about 100,000 people, from families and teenagers to retirees, to camp and party on the 50-acre Canyon Moon Ranch.
Four law-enforcement agencies targeted the concert, including officers from the Phoenix Youth Alcohol Aggressive Driving Squad, the Department of Public Safety, the Pinal County Sheriff's Department and special investigators from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.
Last year at Country Thunder, the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control arrested 66 underage drinkers in two days, said the department's Sgt. Wes Kuhl, so they anticipated a similar problem this year.
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