Coventry disturbance ends in 16 arrests and special curfew proposal by city

The first Coventry Street Fair of the summer ended on a bad note when a disturbance by a flash mob broke out in the early evening of June 26, resulting in 16 arrests.

“Every bit of 25,000” people attended what started out as “probably the best fair we’ve ever had,” said Steve Presser, owner of Big Fun. “The vibe on the street was great… People were having a wonderful time.”

According to Presser, who was one of the event’s organizers, two small fights between teenagers broke out on the street shortly before 6 p.m., the fair’s closing time. As the merchants started to pack up their booths, “it became an issue… They had to move those kids out.”

“Probably 500 to 1,000 youth showed up,” Cleveland Heights City Manager Robert Downey said, and with numbers that big, “trouble starts to happen.”

There were kids playing in the Coventry Peace Park when people came running across the field, said John Nelson, co-leader of the Youth of Coventry, a group of Cleveland Heights High School students and alumni who went to Monday’s Cleveland Heights City Council meeting to express their concerns about the safety of the neighborhood. There were “mothers and fathers running around…screaming for their children,” he said.

Cleveland Heights Police Chief Jeffrey Robertson said most of the troublemakers were from outside of Cleveland Heights, and had used social media to find out about the street fair. Of those arrested, only two or three were Cleveland Heights residents, he said.

“Fortunately, nobody got hurt,” Robertson said. Presser also noted that “there wasn’t really any major violence” and, as far as he knew, there had not been any property damage. 

In one response to the disturbance, a special Cleveland Heights City Council meeting was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29 to discuss an emergency amendment to the city’s curfew policies, Cleveland Heights Mayor Edward Kelley said. At the very latest, the legislation will be enacted at the next regularly scheduled council meeting, July 5, he said.

In addition, Robertson said the city will install 24 surveillance cameras around Coventry Village. While these will help in identifying suspects when problems arise, the cameras’ main purpose is to deter criminal activity: “These aren’t going to be subtle cameras,” he said. 

Presser is not sure whether the second street fair, currently scheduled for July 24, will happen. “We’ll talk to the city, the community, the merchants,” he said. “No decision has been made at this point. None.” If it goes on as planned, Presser suggested alterations designed to inhibit another flash mob, such as charging admission and shortening the hours.

Robertson also is not yet sure if he would want the second street fair to be cancelled. He said he wants to see how successful the new ordinances and surveillance systems are at preventing crime in Coventry Village before he expresses an opinion on the matter.

The Youth of Coventry advocated passionately against canceling the fair. “We do not want that,” Nelson said. “We don’t want to lose what Cleveland Heights is known for.”

Council seemed at least somewhat moved by the students’ appeals. Kelley, who spent about 30 minutes meeting with Robertson and the Youth of Coventry, said he empathized with them because he had spent much of his time hanging out on Coventry when he was their age.