Some Fans didn't even leave Miami

[secondtube]

Evening beach confrontation ends with five people arrested

Five people were arrested after a confrontation between Key West police and homeless youths, whose reported numbers have never been greater in the city.

By CARA BUCKLEY

cbuckley@herald.com

KEY WEST - A skirmish between police and homeless youths on a Key West beach Monday evening led to five arrests and heightened tensions between the city and a homeless population that has hit a record high.

Differing accounts, one from police officers, the other from an eyewitness, described the scene at Higgs Beach, south of White Street Pier, just after sunset Monday.

According to police reports, officers were called to the beach at 6 p.m. to check out reports of a four- or five-person fight.

BLANKETS AND BEER

In their report, they said they arrived to find tents, blankets and beer strewn about the beach, a magnet for the homeless, and were greeted by a chorus of insults, including ``here comes the pigs.''

Officers grabbed two of the shouters' hands and called for backup, according to reports, as members of the group hollered abuse. Extra officers arrived and arrested three more people, including a woman, 23, who was pepper-sprayed for allegedly grabbing an officer's arm. Another man was tackled to the ground and pepper-sprayed.

FACING CHARGES

Five people face charges that include disorderly conduct, resisting arrest without violence and battery on a law enforcement officer, a felony.

''There's a turf battle going on between the homeless and these kids. It's relatively new, and some are very pushy,'' said Officer Steve Torrence, a spokesman for the Key West Police Department.

But Dwayne Ernst, a local who said he arrived at Higgs Beach on Monday to serve free dinner, said the police were unduly belligerent, going so far as to order him to stop dishing out food.

''We brought a pasta dish, almost like a primavera, with plastic forks and paper plates. They loved it,'' said Ernst, who said he and two roommates serve up food to the homeless once or so a week. ``It was so peaceful, we probably served about 30 people before the cops stopped me. They started stomping on stuff. It was totally out of line.''

Torrence said he had not heard accounts of police thwarting food distribution.

The arrests come after weeks of growing confrontations between police and a homeless population that is said to be rising by as much as 10 percent a week, to the current estimated high of 1,400.

A NEW INFLUX

The newest influx -- young, nomadic and slightly punk -- has been growing ever since the group Phish played in Miami in late December, officials said. Phish has a devout following, similar to the Deadheads who once trailed the Grateful Dead, and some observers believe that a few of the followers kept heading south.

Meanwhile, the Key West City Commission continues to struggle over where to put a proposed homeless shelter: Neither the city nor Monroe County has one.

source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7702901.htm

[Esau]

As sketchy as a kid on Phish tour....how true eh?

[NewRider]

well if they wanna get rid of the homeless problem Phish need to play more dates! Or perhaps we could just send Esau down there to serve up some shin kicks, you up for a little fun in the sun Greg???

[Esau]

quote:

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Originally posted by NewRider:

Or perhaps we could just send Esau down there to serve up some shin kicks, you up for a little fun in the sun Greg???

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No thanks.

FLA is where Canadians go to die...or be killed.

Give me 10 hours a day workin outside on a hydro tower 85 ft up in a snow storm instead......wait I did that today.

[shainhouse]

well, it is warm in Key West