A carnival at the Ak-Chin Circle on Saturday night was evacuated early after a brawl erupted among a large group of juveniles, according to several people who attended the event.
“It was freaky being told to evacuate,” said one of the attendees.
The carnival, which was being held during the 17th annual Masik Tas, an Ak-Chin holiday, was evacuated sometime between 10 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, attendees said. It was slated to run until 11 p.m.
“It closed early due to kids fighting last night and today,” Elvia Aburto, 39, a Senita resident who attended the carnival, said Sunday.
Matthew Benson, the Ak-Chin spokesman, was aware of unrest during the second night of the three-day event. However, he said Ak-Chin police were still parsing out exactly what took place during the final days of Masik Tas, which began Dec. 8.
“We don’t have any comment at this time as the matter is still under investigation,” Benson said Monday.
Large teen brawls are nothing novel on Ak-Chin land — this is the third one reported this year (and a fourth happened during a different carnival at Copper Sky, near the city limit, in March) — especially during events when large numbers of teenagers enter the sovereign nation for its entertainment offerings.
In May, a teen brawl was captured on video tape during a screening of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes at the Ak-Chin Cinemas. With garbage strewn around the aisles, one young female was seen firmly slapping a male in the face, while another male was curled into the fetal position being walloped by a group of angry youths.
That’s what prompted the Ak-Chin Circle to implement a new policy requiring teens under 18 to be accompanied by parents on weekend nights after 10 p.m. However, the brawl that occurred Saturday started just before 10 p.m., according to witnesses.
In July, a Tortosa father said he saw his teen daughter and her friend get attacked and beaten outside the Ak-Chin Cinemas, landing one of the girls in the hospital. Ak-Chin leaders and police at the time refused to comment about either movie theater brawl.
Benson today could not answer questions about whether the leaders would consider changing or reinforcing their security strategy moving forward.
Monica Williams, a Maricopa Police Department spokeswoman, could not confirm or deny if municipal officers assisted in controlling the irascible crowd.
“Any information needs to come from the department with jurisdiction,” Williams said Sunday. “Even if we responded, Ak-Chin has to release any information.”
This post Large teen brawl at Masik Tas ‘still under investigation’: Ak-Chin appeared first on InMaricopa.