By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Ten juveniles and an adult were arrested Saturday on assault and disorderly conduct charges after police responded at 2:58 p.m. to a fight at Splash Zone Water Park, 201 W. Martin St.
According to one of several reports, 70 to 80 black men and women started fighting in the grassy area at the park as police were investigating the initial incident.
A caller reported that the first fight was in the lobby, but it had moved into the parking lot by the time officers arrived, according to a news release.
Several people started shouting and arguing in the playground area, then multiple fights broke out after that, the release states.
According to several reports, the people involved were yelling profanities and disobeying officers’ orders to leave the area. A police dog was used for crowd control. One officer wrote in a report that his head was struck while he was breaking up a fight between two people.
A lifeguard said he saw five to seven people “jumping” one individual. He told police that he and three other lifeguards tried to break that fight up.
The lifeguard also reported that a white man was assaulted by 50 people while police were at the scene but that the man left before officers could speak with him.
Two white victims, a brother and sister, said they were attacked by 10-15 black men and women after the brother told the crowd that was fighting to watch out for the kids at the park and the sister attempted to get her brother out of the area.
An officer who arrived around 3 p.m. wrote in a report that he saw 30 people fighting then and four officers were attempting to break up the altercations.
According another report, suspected marijuana was found on one of the women police arrested. That woman was charged with possession. No other drugs and no weapons were involved.
The State Police, the Cabot and Sherwood police departments, and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office assisted Jacksonville police in handling the situation.
