Garden fireworks celebration turns ugly
Garden fireworks celebration turns ugly
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
GARDEN — What started as a routine traffic stop turned into a confrontation for a Michigan Department of Natural Resources officer and officers from the Delta County Sheriff’s Department.
According to Delta County Sheriff Gary Ballweg, on Saturday a DNR officer initiated a traffic stop in front of D &J’s On the Bay, a restaurant on Main Street in Garden, during the Fourth of July fireworks celebration.
Ballweg said a few patrons of the bar started heckling the DNR officer, whose name is not being released.
“Someone started shooting fireworks at him and throwing rocks and broke the window of his vehicle,” Ballweg said.
Officer Darin Smith, of the Delta County Sheriff’s Department, was also coming into the town and his vehicle was hit with a Roman candle firework and rocks.
“As a result of that we sent a bunch more officers out there from various agencies and we cleared the streets and closed down the bars,” Ballweg said.
Ballweg said six people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct as a result of the altercations. Ballweg expected the men to be arraigned on Wednesday.
No one was injured, and the incident is still under investigation.
“Unfortunately, it’s sad that I cannot send one officer to a small community celebration without a few bad apples making everything worse,” Ballweg said. “We’ll have to review liquor licenses that are operating on these days when there are a large amount of people.”
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