Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Game celebration last week leads to horseplay at Sonic

After a 14-13 football win last Friday night, it was time for nearly 200 teenagers to swarm to Sonic on Main Street in Gurdon.

This was not unusual, as it is normal for teens to eat, drink and be merry there. Mary Smith, manager, said she encourages it because the 12- and 13-year-olds need somewhere well lighted to hang out after dark.

"We have picnic tables for the kids and adults alike," she said. "But after the Lafayette County game, behavior got out of hand. We had one child swinging from a ceiling fan. The noise level, between radios and shouting, was so loud we could not take orders."

Smith, who has been on the job at Sonic for about 15 years, said two children were on top of the picnic tables dancing. She said the noise level was so high that her customers were leaving the lot because you could not take an order  even standing beside the vehicle.

"I called the Gurdon Police Department," she said. "They sent two officers. They asked the kids to leave. This all lasted 20 to 30 minutes. The kids left after I closed the store an hour early. We closed about 10:45 p.m., where we usually close about midnight. I apologize for closing early, but for their safety I felt it was the best decision."

Smith said her supervisor said no loitering signs may have to be installed over the unruly behavior. She said that is not what she wants.

"I have parents who trust me with their 12-and 13-year-olds in a well-lighted, supervised area here," she said. "I also want our adults and teens to be able to use the picnic tables. We just don't want people getting out of hand, and this is the first time I really feel it has."

Mayor Clayton Franklin said, "If Sonic, or any other business, feels there is too much loitering at their place, they can put up signs and we will try to enforce it. All they have to do is call the police."

According to Don Childres, City Marshal, loitering is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable with $175 fine. The rules, he said, are some different for juveniles.

Childres said two officers responded to Smith on Friday, Sept. 10, just after the football game at Sonic. The crowd was dispersed by police and told to leave.

The marshal got involved when they came back. Childres said they all left upon prompting by him after the second request.

"Loitering, he said, "is hard to enforce when a business has picnic tables set up. However, we can approach this from a disorderly conduct standpoint. If we had seen the young man swinging from the fan, and he had refused to stop or go home, we can take a juvenile like him to City Hall, call the parents, issue a citation and get a juvenile court date. We don't want to have to do all of that, but we can and we will if children do not listen to law enforcement requests."

Of the Friday night incident, Childres said seven or eight individuals came back to Sonic after the original request to leave. But upon second request, "We ran them down Third Street."

Childres advises parents to talk to their children so nobody has to end up in juvenile court with a curfew etc.

According to the law, Childres provided 5-71-213. Loitering is generally constituted if a person lingers, remains or prowls in a public place or the premises of another without apparent reason and under circumstances that warrant alarm or concern for the safety of person or property in the vicinity.