Huge parties at fairgrounds in Pittsboro...

[billwillcox]

  I went to the Pittsboro Board meeting Monday night, to cover it for the Chatham Record. The police chief and Detective A. Rosser were there. During the course of a presentation, they started talking about these huge parties, about 400 kids, that have been happening at the fairgrounds, three so far this year. Apparently, a young dj rents the bldg., and kids from as far away as Sanford and Asheboro come to town, but when these events end around 1 a.m. there are usually fights. The Pittsboro police often need to call for backup from the sheriff's dept. and Siler City. The really scary thing is that, back in May, on the night of one of these parties, a car started firing at another one in the Food Lion parking lot.
  The cars pulled out onto East Street and shots were fired as the cars sped towards the courthouse circle. They apprehended the suspect in Sanford and charged him with going armed to the terror of the people.
  The bad news is that another party is planned for this weekend. I think it is supposed to happen Friday night.

[WolfpackFan]

Can the fairgrounds stop renting out the building due to ongoing problems?

[randy]

Who's making the profits off these parties.  In Ca these parties would be advertised underground, 1-2 thousand would show up.  I'm "not" sure if this is that kind of party.   The underground parties in Ca for teens, drug sales were already established and alcohol was provided with the cost of the ticket.  It was quite profitable for the underground sponsors and always ended up with violence after midnight, it was so organized, they even had a backup area if the party got shut down by law enforcement.  These underground organized parties spread to Arizona because they were so profitable.  Unfortunately, teens and young adults were very secretive of these parties.  Bad News when this stuff gets organized with financing.  Whoever sponsored these parties could make 10-15 thousand dollars from underground ticket sales on just one party.
Though these parties do not sound very secretive at the moment, it's probably kind of a testing ground to check out the area and get a local following is how they start. 

[natvrabit]

Do you know which night this weekend the party is scheduled for, so I can pencil in on my calender when NOT to go to Pittsboro?

[billwillcox]

It's Friday night. I confirmed this with the police. The dj does bring in three bouncers to try and keep things orderly.
I wrote an article that is in this week's Chatham Record...and I will follow up and see how things went. The police are definitely trying to find a way to get some kind of better control...most of the kids are coming from out of Town.

[Donnie Springfield]

The gas station at the corner of Hanks and Hillsboro-- called the "Murder Mart" by a friend and former resident-- has recently had flyers advertising parties and bikini competitions at the fairgrounds.

[randy]

The gas station at the corner of Hanks and Hillsboro-- called the "Murder Mart" by a friend and former resident-- has recently had flyers advertising parties and bikini competitions at the fairgrounds.

Yuppers, that's how it starts.  Sad part is, these are not college parties, there all minors with the intent to drink and purchace drugs at the party.  May not be that bad here yet, just going off the history of how these things get started.

[natvrabit]

Thanks for the info/article Bill. Guess I will go elsewhere Fri. if go out to dinner. I avoid such. Why I don't go to malls at night or much at all as well.

[oakrunfarm]

As Barney used to say, local leaders need to "Nip it in the bud."

Some parties like that, called "raves," are almost exclusively minors (except for the drug dealers who will be there). 

This is the type of thing that needs to be kept far out of our county, and they are taking advantage of people's not knowing what they are to hold them in our area.

I am young enough to know what is going on, but waaaay too old to go in incognito to check it out and report back! 

[billwillcox]

The police mentioned oxycotin. At the board meeting the police showed a YouTube video titled Chatham County Boyz. If you go to YouTube and type this in the search field, it comes up. Watching it is a real eye opener. There are guys flashing gang signs, measuring drugs. It is all based in Siler City, but the police say it (gang activity) is definitely coming to Pittsboro as the population grows. That is part of the reason they want tasers, and two rifles. They said they are getting outgunned by the criminals. I couldn't believe all of this but then they showed an altercation on Anthony Street and I became more convinced.

[natvrabit]

Indeed "nip it"! I don't understand why it has not been shut down already.

[SeeingAllSides]

Okay, wait.

If this is happening at the fairgrounds behind Food Lion, how hard would it be to post a check point coming out of there with a breathalyzer ready for every driver?  Have the law enforcement cars parked there before the sun goes down too, just watching them roll in...

Seems like that would be enough to discourage this activity to me.

One way in, one way out...didn't anyone tell these kids that's a dumb place to party?  

(Not that I would know anything about partying down old roads back in the '70's, mind you!   )

[randy]

Ok, I just talked with some local teens.  One of them went to it two weeks ago.  He heard about the party by word of mouth.  There is a private security at these parties and everyone is searched prior to going in and also if they come out and go back in.  The teens I spoke with told me they did not go to the most recent one, but told me there were fights that broke out all over Pittsboro.  It was shut down around 1 am is what I was told.  I can't confirm any of this as fact, this is just what the local teens told me today that I spoke with.   They also told me there wasn't alcohiol in the fairgrounds, but plenty of drugs were going around

[dkemom2]

Raves...wow, u old.

Seriously,  Chapel Hill nipped this a few years ago after several shootings at a downtown club that used to rent out for "private parties".
Basically, it was gangs from Durham coming over and renting out the club.  Rival gang would show up..there you have it.

They leave their own towns b/c the police are hip to them.  They've come to "crackerville" now and think that we're too dumb to know or do anything about it.  Wow, that reminds me of a certain CA. developer, sorry, I digress.

I'm with whoever said "nip it". Don't wait for someone to be dead.

[randy]

I agree, I hope they do nip this in the butt, if the word gets out that Pittsboro is the place to be for this kind of activity on a Friday night, we soon will start seeing local Friday night shootings/stabbings, ect.  That's not being paranoid, that's a a fact.  I know alot of the kids do not go there to get into a fight, ect, but it draws and attracts the dark side of the youth we want nothing to do with here.  Very easy for this stuff to get started in rural ares by word of mouth, away from the big towns/cities thinking small town law enforcement will make easier assess.

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