Deputies respond to teen brawl at club

A fight involving about 400 people at Storman's Palace on Ulmerton Road results in eight arrests during teen night.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 28, 2002

LARGO -- More than 60 deputies were summoned to a melee at Storman's Palace early Friday morning that involved about 400 people, most of them teenagers.

Deputies arrested seven teenagers and one adult in what some deputies described as a flat-out riot. A fight involving two girls apparently erupted into a larger dispute, then spilled into the parking lot, Pinellas sheriff's officials said.

The brawl occurred during a teen night event at the nightclub. Sheriff's officials estimated there were 700 teens at the club, though nightclub officials said only 500 came through their door that night.

The incident prompted the management team at Storman's, 2675 Ulmerton Road, to consider ending teen night events, which are semi-regular and usually on Thursdays or Mondays, said Tom McNeice, director of operations at the club.

McNeice said teen night, limited to patrons 18 and younger, is nonalcoholic. Tobacco and gum-chewing also are not allowed. Those 19 and older are not allowed inside, he said.

The first fight, between two girls, began just after 1 a.m., said Detective Cal Dennie, a sheriff's office spokesman.

"One got slapped, one slapped the other, then her friends came and it was on after that," Dennie said. "It just escalated from there."

Though five deputies and a sergeant worked an off-duty security detail outside of the club, they had to summon backup from on-duty deputies. Dennie said 61 squad cars from as far away as Palm Harbor responded to the fight.

"Not in my 20-year history have we had that many units at one scene," Dennie said.

Dennie said deputies on the scene reported the fight was between kids from Clearwater and kids from St. Petersburg. There were no reports of gang affiliations, however.

"If we have a rivalry of cities here, we're not going to be a hub of that," said McNeice.

Dennie said some of the teenagers wielded pepper spray, which they tried to squirt at combatants.

"They sprayed themselves, their rivals and got some of it on the deputies," Dennie said.

He said a deputy and a bouncer suffered minor injuries.

Dennie said another fight broke out after the first one, but deputies split that one up as well and dispersed the crowd.

"The deputies used a lot of discretion," he said.

The charges against those arrested were cocaine possession, breach of the peace, unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct and trespassing.

Fourteen-year-old Clearwater resident Jessica Green said she has been to the club for several teen nights. Though there have been occasional fights, she never saw anything like Friday morning.

"Everybody was just fighting," she said.

Jessica's father, Morgan Green, arrived to pick her up about 1:15 a.m. As Jessica walked with her father toward the car, a group of about 15 girls tried to jump her, she said.

Jessica said she didn't know why. She said her father tried to protect her.

"He was trying to get the girls off of me," she said.

But deputies said Morgan Green's actions went further than that. A security officer detained Green, 34, for fighting. When deputies approached him, he thrashed and pushed away from the deputies. He was arrested on charges of resisting arrest and possession of marijuana, reports say.

McNeice said he hires deputies to stand outside the club on busy nights to take care of any unruly people who are booted from the club.

"They did a great job," he said. "We've always worked well with them."

McNeice said there two managers on the floor Thursday night and six people behind the bar serving sodas. There also were 10 to 12 security personnel.

He said the club has held teen events for about five years. He said there have been occasional disputes, but no major problems.

Sheriff's Office records show deputies have responded to 81 calls at Storman's this year, most of them for trespassing, disorderly conduct and disorderly intoxication.

McNeice said that's probably because his club is proactive in kicking out troublemakers. He said the club, in business 10 years, is safe and would compare well with any other clubs in the area.

He said another teen night is scheduled for Monday, but might be canceled. If teen night continues, he said, the club will hire more security. He said managers have to decide if teen events could still be worthwhile with those added expenses.

"It's fun if everybody could just get along and stop fighting," Green said.

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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