Posted on 07/05/2007 7:06:59 PM PDT by lightman
Assault on city officials: Council members dodge fireworks, trash can attack
ELIZABETH EVANS The York Dispatch Article Last Updated: 07/05/2007 02:52:03 PM EDT
A glass bottle struck York City Councilwoman Toni Smith in the head late last night as she confronted what she called a large group of "cowards" setting off fireworks in the 500 block of South Queen Street.
The bottle shattered and left Smith with a lump on the head, but she was otherwise unhurt, the 73-year-old councilwoman said today.
"It's just a little bit of a lump," she said. "I said to them, 'Look -- the glass broke and my head is fine, you punks! Cowards.' I was so mad."
Another teenager threw a garbage can at York City Council President Cameron Texter, but missed, Smith said.
Smith said she, Texter and Smith's husband, retired police officer Ed Smith, went to the block around 11:30 p.m. to confront about 20 people setting off a huge amount of fireworks and scaring elderly neighbors.
A resident in the block had called Smith to say fireworks were being aimed at neighbors' windows and she was scared, according to Smith. Police were called to the area, but it didn't stop the revelers, who were setting off illegal Advertisement fireworks, Smith said.
So Smith said she and Texter decided to go to the area, and her husband told her he wasn't letting her go without him.
"You wouldn't believe. There was so much smoke, you could not even see," Smith said. "I tried to tell them, you need to stop -- people are scared."
Explosions around them: But the group wasn't intimidated and tried to scare the trio off, she said.
"They were setting off fire- works all around us, and at my feet," Smith said. "I didn't move. I said to them, 'I went through bombings. This is nothing.'"
Smith grew up in Italy and lived through both the German occupation of that country as well as Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. She still carries a scar on her right leg; she was just 7 or 8 when a stray bullet, fired by either a German or an Italian, hit her.
The group in the 500 block of South Queen Street told the trio to leave, according to Smith.
"They said, 'This is our street.' I said, 'No, no, no. This is not your street. This is the people's street. You think you can take a street?'"
A York City police officer showed up and, after the councilwoman pointed out the man who threw the bottle at her, the officer had the Smiths and Texter go to police headquarters to make harassment complaints. No arrests had been made as of this morning, but Smith said she can identify those involved and intends to press charges.
"I know who they are," she said. "Believe me."
Busy night for cops: York City Police Capt. David Arnold said that between 3 p.m. and midnight yesterday, police received 51 complaints of fireworks, not including numerous other calls for gunfire, fights, assaults and disorderly conduct.
He said patrol officers were very busy and before going to investigate fireworks complaints, they would first handle calls where people were in danger.
"The way we respond to calls," he said, "fireworks calls are at the bottom."
"This is just one more reason why they should have organized fireworks at the stadium and other places," police Commissioner Mark Whitman said.
Whitman advised people to let police handle incidents.
"There are legitimate ways for the community to assist police," he said. "Taking matters into your own hands is not one of them."
Smith said she knows that many of the people in that neighborhood are good, hardworking folks who pay taxes and just want to live in peace.
"They have to live like that because of a bunch of cowards?" she asked. "It isn't fair. It isn't right."
-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com or 505-5429.
Ping
“who were setting off illegal Advertisement fireworks, Smith said.”
Too close to an election?
Naw, just sloppy editing on my part. Should have linked and copied the email/printer friendly ad-free version.
ping
Big Fireworks strike again!
If things were that out of control .. why didn't the police do anything .. especially since they tell folks not to take matters into their own hands and let police handle it?
These weren’t “people”...these were a Democrat Councilman (who works as a Democratic policy anaylist in Harrisburg) and a Democrat Councilwoman and her retired-cop husband.
The government one-size-and-one-world-view-fits-all answers are the most abusive anti-American I know of which is why I demand to know from candidates who run for office the following...Which laws are you going to REMOVE from the books to give back some freedom?
Good question.
LOL...Not surprise.
The implication here is those celebrating the 4th are Nazis, or this was somehow like a bad WWII experience.
I cannot believe they would stoop to this. These people must be running for election.
LMAO. They don’t sound like cowards to me. That’ll learn her for trying to enforce a ridiculous ordinance.
Of course, this won't work if it is the militia that is celebrating our nation's founding by setting off fireworks. Best to leave them alone.
People in the City of York are fed up with crime.
This has a good political ring to it for the moment itself, not for re-election.
Smith is a controversial Democrat Party activist (dirt and smear artist) and Texter has been involved in a divorce with adultery allegations. Texter (Democrat) was also involved in a case (not resolved to my knowledge) of forging a signature for a campaign report before a notary (another Democrat) in Harrisburg.
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