PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Jackson County deputies wrote 29 citations in about four hours early Sunday in a crackdown on partying by teenagers and young adults in a wooded, undeveloped area of a subdivision.
Sheriff Charles Britt said deputies will continue patrolling the area and issuing citations. Jail time could also be possible for trespassers, he said.
The South Pointe area was originally designed as a 1,600-home subdivision in the St. Andrews community. Local residents said the private, mostly-wooded property, became a popular gathering spot for teens after the developer went bankrupt years earlier, leaving several roads unpaved
Britt said citations issued about 4 a.m. Sunday were for simple possession of marijuana, trespassing and no driver’s license or insurance. He says parents or guardians were called to pick up several intoxicated teenagers.
“We showed up a few times and gave warnings,” Britt said. “That didn’t stop it, so we moved into another phase. We are starting to issue citations and we will start arresting and start towing. Whatever it takes to get this under control.”
“Drinking, drugs, younger kids mixing with older kids, weapons being discharged, that’s my biggest concern. When is one of these kids going to get hurt or killed?”
Local resident Lisa Pomeroy said she and some neighbors started complaining to authorities as early as 2008.
She said area attracts as many as 40 vehicles a night, creating disturbances for those who live there and frightening parents who don’t want to take their children outside after hearing gunshots.
“I have a 6-year-old and we can’t play outside like normal people,” Pomeroy said. “It’s not safe for her to be out there. I have to race in when I start hearing the guns going off. You can find hundreds of beer cans and we know they are using drugs because we find needles. There are shotgun shells everywhere and they just leave their bonfires burning.”
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