The fallout after a brawl at Bell's

Bell's Amusement Park's owner says he had to shut his park down Saturday night after a group of unsupervised kids started a huge fight. It took 120 deputies and police officers to break up the

Monday, April 4th 2005, 1:20 pm

By: News On 6

Bell's Amusement Park's owner says he had to shut his park down Saturday night after a group of unsupervised kids started a huge fight. It took 120 deputies and police officers to break up the fight and they say they had to use gas to get the crowd under control.

News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says management is working to make sure fights like this don't happen again. It was opening weekend at Bell's, just two years ago, another big fight on opening weekend also forced the park to close.

Owner Robbie Bell says it's not uncommon for kids to get out of hand and this weekend, he saw the perfect recipe for trouble. Nice weather meant big crowds and lots of kids were here without their parents.

Bell's has its own security force and Robbie Bell says they try to pick out customers before they become a problem. "If they want to refuse service to anybody, they can, and they really don't have to have a reason, and we did a lot of that on Saturday too, and a lot of kids were ejected from the park, before we closed."

But Bell says keeping kids from coming to his park without a parent late on weekends would be bad for business. The Promenade Mall thought it might be too, but stores there are embracing a new policy that does just that.

Robbie Bell says the fight Saturday night is not the norm and hopes parents would feel safe bringing their kids back to Bell's.