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Tumult taints plaza's safety

Christmas night near BayWalk turns scary, with gunfire, pepper spray and arrests.

By CRISTINA SILVA, JACOB H. FRIES and CASEY CORA, Times Staff Writers
Published December 27, 2007

The second melee in three years near BayWalk has renewed questions about safety at the downtown entertainment complex.

One person was shot, several were pepper-sprayed and at least five were arrested after a series of shootings and brawls on Christmas Day.

"It was as frightening a moment in my city's downtown as I've ever had," said Bill Foster, a City Council member who walked through the complex about 10 p.m. Tuesday after watching a movie with his family. "It was just mass chaos. ... You had to go single file and weave your way through the masses to get to Second Avenue. Once there, there was no police presence."

Foster sensed trouble, so he took his family home and returned to BayWalk at 10:30 p.m. Young people were openly smoking marijuana. Teens packed the complex's courtyard shoulder to shoulder. Police and security forces were overmatched, he said.

Then he heard the first round of gunfire. Then a second. Each time, people scrambled for cover.

"It was a recipe for disaster, and we were ill prepared," said Foster, who wrote a memo to Mayor Rick Baker and police Chief Chuck Harmon detailing his experience. "I think there's plenty of blame to share."

It was the second large disturbance at BayWalk in three years. In January 2005, a series of brawls led to the arrests of 17 people, including seven juveniles, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to battery on a law enforcement officer.

Before BayWalk opened in 2000, downtown often emptied at dusk. Now the complex of restaurants, bars, retail stores and 20-screen movie theater attracts 3-million to 4-million visitors a year, transforming the area into a congested hub of commercial activity.

But it is also a magnet for young people, who sometimes become unruly and cause headaches for police.

Usually authorities break up the crowd of youths "and they walk peacefully home," said George Kajtsa, a St. Petersburg police spokesman. "There were crowds on Christmas last year, but there were no fights, no shootings, no nothing. This year the difference was we had a few troublemakers."

Tuesday's melee began as police started to clear teenagers from the center of BayWalk's Mediterranean-style courtyard at 10 p.m. in accordance with the complex's curfew for unsupervised minors.

After curfew, throngs of teens are commonly ushered onto a closed off portion of Second Avenue N between the BayWalk shopping plaza and a walkway leading to the parking garage. Asked if that presents a potentially volatile situation, Kajtsa said officers regularly monitor the area.

On Tuesday night, the courtyard had been filled with a crowd of would-be movie patrons who were turned away from the Muvico theater because many shows were sold out.

As police arrived to escort the youths and adults off of the premises, an unidentified man in a nearby alley fired a gun seven times into the air.

"Everyone ran in every direction," Kajtsa said.

About the same time, Ricardo Dyce, 20, was standing at the corner of First Avenue S and First Street just after 11 p.m., police said, when a white, late model Dodge Charger drove by. A passenger in the Dodge opened fire, striking Dyce once in the right calf, police said.

Witnesses told investigators they saw Dyce and the man believed to be the shooter arguing about remarks made to Dyce's girlfriend before the gunfire erupted.

It is unclear how many shots were fired, but Kajtsa said no shell casings were recovered at the scene.

Roughly a dozen emergency units responded. Dyce was taken to Bayfront Medical Center.

Within 15 minutes of the shooting, 23-year-old Curtis Donaldson threw a wad of dollar bills into the air outside of BayWalk and caused a stampede, police said. Donaldson was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

Shortly after, a person walking near Second Avenue NE and Beach Drive was punched and threatened with a handgun, police said.

The victim ran to the Pier to call police, Kajtsa said. No arrests were made.

Police also responded to about eight people fighting near the corner of Third Avenue N and First Street at 12:30 p.m. After several attempts to disrupt the fight, an officer pepper-sprayed into the group, Kajtsa said.

Jessica N. Williams, 20, of St. Petersburg and three juveniles were each charged with one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, Kajtsa said.

BayWalk officials said security was beefed up in anticipation of the busy holiday night but declined to say how many officers were on duty.

"Our team was amply staffed, more than normal," said Amber Overby, a spokeswoman for Sembler Co., which owns and manages BayWalk. "They did a great job of clearing out the plaza."

Overby pointed out that many of the fights and shootings took place outside of BayWalk.

"We depend on people to monitor their own behavior once they leave the property," she said.

Muvico manager Laurie Parra declined to discuss Tuesday's incident but said the theater's staffers lock entrance doors "when no movies are available."

Foster, the council member, worried about the lingering effects the incident could have on downtown.

"Every time something like this happens, we suck a little more life out of BayWalk," he said. "Every time it dies a little more. ... There are many other venues to watch a movie and this one is getting a reputation that people think, 'Why bother.'"

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Cristina Silva can be reached at csilva@sptimes.com or 727 893-8836.

[Last modified December 26, 2007, 23:39:11]