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Credit: Discover DunwoodyAccording to the Atlanta Black Star, three Georgia teens are being charged as adults for fighting and armed robbery near Six Flags Over Georgia despite their parents claiming their innocence.
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Theme Parks are supposed to be a place of thrills and enjoyment. However, there has been an upward trend across the country of brawls breaking out inside Amusement Parks.
Six Flags Over Georgia, a Park known for exciting roller coasters like Goliath and the Georgia Scorcher, recently found groups of teenagers fighting inside their Park.
In a statement made to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Six Flags Over Georgia stated, “Unfortunately, several groups of young people decided to engage in inappropriate behavior in more than one area of the Park. Their actions disrupted the Park experience for our Guests and violated our Park policies.”
They continued, “…We have absolutely no tolerance for inappropriate behavior. Safety for our Guests, and our Team Members, is our foremost priority. Unruly behavior will not be tolerated.”
The groups were ejected from the Park and the fights continued into a nearby Wendy’s.
Cobb County Police quickly arrived on the scene and arrested three teenagers ages 15, 16, and 17. Even though they are minors, their family members claim they are being charged as adults because weapons were found at the scene.
“They Were Just Grabbing Kids”
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Parents of two of the teenagers involved maintain their children’s innocence. They were arrested at a nearby Wendy’s, a common location for parents or ride-shares to pick people up. As the fight happened, police arrived and, according to one witness, “They were just grabbing kids. They were just grabbing them. They grabbed me, and I got away.”
They say none of the three teens arrested knew each other “other than being locked up together for a week.”
According to the parent of the 16-year-old, “A young lady called my phone and said my son was incarcerated with her son. They don’t know each other. She said they didn’t let my son call his parents, so she called me for him.”
Her son, who is a football player, track runner, and manager of the baseball team, is being held in a juvenile detention center in Cobb County. The mother says that “I want my son home. My son is innocent.”
Guardians of the 15 and 16-year-olds say there have been no updates on when the boys will be released back into their custody, have no affiliation with the children who were fighting, and will hire lawyers to fight the charges.
Cobb County Police Department has released a statement saying that the boys were not wrongly arrested and charged and that all three teenagers were charged based on eyewitness accounts and physical evidence.
Do you think the arrests were justified? What can Parks due to stop fighting at their locations? Let us know in the comments below.