Demo Derby Crack-up: Arrests, Allegations, Injuries

By GIL BRADY for the Casper Star-Tribune

Breaking...! NEW PHOTOS... (updated 8/2, 9:39am)

JACKSON – Teton County’s 50th annual fair was upstaged again this year by its most notoriously rowdy event, the Demolition Derby.

Two men were arrested for streaking, another taken to the hospital with a head injury, and a woman went to jail for criminal trespass Sunday before about 3,000 near-riot spectators, according to at least one official here.

Unlike last year, however, authorities did not resort to "Tasering" lawbreakers, although one nudist was wrestled to the ground and punched by a sheriff’s deputy, earning accusations of excessive force.

As an announcer pleaded over the public address system for people to allow emergency responders--already fighting their way through the unruly crowd, to reach one unconscious man, who had either jumped or fallen from a 20-foot high bleacher and struck his head, said Jackson Det.-Sgt. Todd Smith--Seamus McKinney, 25, the first of two streakers, jumped into the rodeo pit and ran across the arena.

McKinney’s dash ended when he lowered his head and barreled into a peace officer and security at the main gate, knocking them down, before being subdued after a series of body blows by sheriff’s deputy Todd Stanyon. As the melee, which was caught on videotape, progressed, authorities were greeted by loud boos, profanities, cups of tossed beer, and a chorus of, “Let him go! Let him Go!”

“I did not think the use of force was excessive,” said DeeDee Dudley, an Alpine resident, seen clearly just feet away on an Internet video of the scuffle. “The streaker knocked the deputy over. And then they did what they had to do to get the cuffs on him.”

As police took McKinney into custody, Michael Smith, 36, of Jackson and Oklahoma, leapt and pranced around the rodeo pit, even taunting cautiously approaching security officials at one point, delighting screaming spectators before dropping to the ground and surrendering without incident. At that point, area lights went dark and the fireworks show started, causing police to use flashlights to arrest him, according to witnesses and Jackson Police Chief Dan Zivkovich, who accused both men of taking advantage of the situation.

“The streakers picking that moment when there’s a person lying on the ground,” an angry Zivkovich said, referring to the injured man, “with potentially life threatening head injuries. At first we were concerned that he was dead, but then they noticed he was breathing and he ultimately became conscious.”

As of Monday evening, the injured man, whose name and medical status remain unknown, was reportedly taken to St. John’s Medical Center.

Zivkovich expressed disappointment about reports of onlookers stepping over the injured, unconscious man to better see the streakers. However, he added, whether McKinney or Smith understood the situation is uncertain. “Here we are trying to stabilize this person, and there’s people stepping over and potentially on him as they’re trying to rush to see the streaker,” the chief said.

Booking reports also show one female exhibitionist being arrested for criminal trespass and about 9 other arrests for offenses ranging from public intoxication to larceny.

Streaking, drunkenness, anti-social behavior and the over-selling of tickets were already issues of concern for fair organizers and officials before last year’s highly publicized “Tasering” of streaker John Rodgers by Stanyon for, as Teton County Sheriff Bob Zimmer said Monday, carrying a fire extinguisher.

Brushing off accusations of excessive force inspired in part by an Internet video, showing a scuffle between Stanyon and McKinney, and promoted with the word “brutality” before being edited late Monday, Zimmer defended Stanyon again this year. “I think [the video] accurately portrays the activities that took place in the arrest and I think deputy Stanyon is lucky he didn’t get more injuries than those he sustained. And I totally support everything Todd Stanyon did.

“I think somebody is eventually going to get hurt bad,” Zimmer added, when asked how he thought behavior at the Demo Derby had evolved over the years. Derby fan and Jackson business owner Aaron Pruzan, who officials say witnessed his friend’s arrest for public intoxication after Pruzan said the two playfully shoved each other, spoke critically of law enforcement’s conduct Sunday.

“Police were out of control tonight,” Pruzan said when describing what he viewed as unnecessary force, including the use of a “half-nelson” on him by law enforcement, for engaging in harmless horseplay with his friend.

Responding to Pruzan’s complaint, Zivkovich said that Pruzan was probably unaware that an officer’s job is to stop altercations from turning into fights and prevent people from getting hurt. “To him what may seem like a playful shove, to an officer who’s seen things already, that shoving incident becomes a concern,” Zivkovich said.

Describing the raucous atmosphere in the grandstands Sunday, especially after the lights went out just before the fireworks show, Zivkovich said: “We were not very far from a riot situation. The longer you take to respond, the more likely you’re going to be dealing with a bigger issue than just two people.”

Speaking about what they would like to see changed at future demo derbies, Zivkovich and Zimmer said that they would like beer sales either eliminated or better controlled with strict cutoff times and limits on ticket sales.

(Click & Read on courtsey of the Casper Star-Tribune)

As promised: STREAKER PHOTOS! Check back Wed. nite 8/2 for more derby car, crowd and action shots! Have a really big day...

REBECCA CARUBA contributed additional reporting and research for this story.

(Photo Credits & Captions: "Demo Derby Crack-up"; "unknown derby driver & post-race car"; "M. Smith, Demo Derby 2nd streaker, Jackson Police Chief Dan Zivkovich") By Gil Brady for The Cowboy Times

Photo Masks: "War" & "Bush" designed & sponsored by Bill Huber, www.kerryquest.org

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