The organizer of last weekend’s Tigerfest in Bellevue said two women got into an argument Friday night and started fighting, prompting a call to the Bellevue Police department.
Janetta Steeley, who organizes the annual event to support Bellevue schools, told LINK nky that once the women started fighting, the kids with them then started fighting, but police were able to clear the scene — at the Bellevue Plaza near Big Lots — in about 10 minutes.
Despite reports of multiple fights and possible weapons at the carnival, which is in its 28th year, Bellevue Police said in a statement that officers on scene did not observe anyone with a weapon or hear talk of weapons once they arrived.
Bellevue resident Nathan Clevenger said he heard a woman say, “they’re going to start pulling out guns,” as he stood in line for lemonade. But he said she seemed to be speculating.
Steeley said the fight was under control quickly and organizers didn’t need to close rides or end the festival early.
The Bellevue Police Department released a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday, a day after the fights. The report said the officers responded to calls of “disorderly subjects,” and all parties involved were told to leave the scene.
Police also said they received a call about a person being struck by a car near the festival, but according to the officer that responded, no one was hurt, and no accident report was taken.
Steeley said rumors about the incident quickly got out of control.
“Somebody said there were 30 police cars, there were no 30 police cars, and nobody got hit by a car,” Steeley said. “So, the biggest part was exaggerated. We’ve been doing it for 28 years, never has this happened.”
Bellevue Sgt. Mike Taylor echoed that sentiment.
“We were getting all kinds of stuff from a local Facebook page and information page throughout the city,” Taylor said. “Everything was blown way out of proportion. There were some fights that happened but nothing to where arrests were made, reports were made, or anything like that. And with the car accident happening, it was just so minor that nothing came from that either. So, it was basically just dispelling any kind of rumor mill that was going around social media.”
Bellevue resident Abbi Schiller attended the Tigerfest Friday night, but said she didn’t stay long because of how crazy things got.
“We heard one lady say, ‘call 911’ to one of the workers and the worker said, ‘ma’am you need to call 911,” Schiller said.
Schiller said she personally did not witness any fighting.
“We saw one of the workers run up to another worker saying there was a fight and that he needed to break it up,” Schiller said. “About two minutes later, we saw people running and a lady with two kids running saying there were about 50 people fighting. That’s when we left. It was a mess.”
As she was leaving, Schiller said the Dayton Police Department showed up.
As for security, Steeley said she was trying to hire someone but said she couldn’t find anyone. She also said the festival had spent $1,000 previously on security, and it is expensive. Tigerfest has not hired anyone for the job in the last few years, Steeley said.
Bellevue Police Department sent one officer to work Saturday’s carnival in order to prevent any incidents like what happened on Friday.
“You live and learn,” Steeley said. “From now on, we will always have two policemen. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t affect us being able to do it again. But we know we will have policemen there the next time.”
Tigerfest is Bellevue High School’s only fundraising event. The money earned goes toward prizes and events for students. Two scholarships are awarded to senior students. At their senior dinner, Steeley draws a name to win a laptop. The students can win a TV at prom and money for other various benefits for the kids go to things like their Kings Island Day.
“They can either accept it or reject it as a city and try to make me stop it, but it really hurts the school because there’s no other group to raise money for the high school,” Steeley said.
Though Steeley wouldn’t comment on the exact number the festival brought in for the school, she said it was a “record-breaking year” and is happy with the fundraising outcome.
