Skatepark victim recounts attack; 2 more arrested
The Saturday night melee at Davenport’s riverfront skatepark was ignited when “neighborhood punks” stole a bucket of chicken and assaulted a 14-year-old skater, one of the victims of the fight said Thursday.
The story told by Michael Hopkins, 23 — who still nurses a deep cut on his wrist from the fight — matches up with the account given by Davenport police, who Thursday made two more arrests stemming from the incident.
Hopkins said a group of about eight nonpark users were harassing the 14-year-old after his dad brought him and other skaters Kentucky Fried Chicken. According to the police report, Johnny Levi, 14, assaulted the victim, struck him across the head with a skateboard and took his food.
The victim was taken to a local hospital by his dad, police said. Hopkins said he ended up with six or seven stitches in his face.
The attack spurred park users into action.
“We chased them out,” Hopkins said.
Police said Levi and other accomplices left the park in a van after being chased by the angered skaters and bikers. Witnesses to the assault inflicted minor damage to the van, according to police.
After leaving, the driver of the van, Jeremy Krapp, 18, and his passengers used their cell phones to call friends to “go to the skatepark and help them get revenge on those who damaged the van,” according to a police report.
Hopkins said he, another young skater named Ramon March, 15, of Davenport and a half-dozen or so others were attacked by 15 to 20 assailants around 9 p.m. When they saw the group coming, a number of girls who were at the park called 911. Hopkins said he was “stomped for about five minutes” before police showed up to break up the fight.
Capt. Dave Struckman confirmed that around 15 people were involved. He said the three officers who responded had difficulty separating out who was fighting, who was a witness and stopping participants from “fleeing in 50 directions.”
Arrested and charged were Levi, Krapp, Demetrious Taylor, 18, and a juvenile. Levi was charged with first-degree robbery. Krapp, Taylor and the juvenile were charged with rioting.
Hopkins and March pleaded with Davenport leaders to not pin the blame for the fight on skatepark users.
“It’s not a problem all day long,” Hopkins said. “Families are down here, everyone just wants to skate and have fun. It’s never a problem until people who don’t skate or bike come down here looking for trouble and acting like jackasses.”
March would like to see lights put up and more police patrols.
“It’s safe, until I see the sun go down, then I leave,” he said.
The latest conflict at the skatepark has some aldermen worried about the future of Centennial Park.
“When we first proposed the skatepark, I asked what we were going to do about security,” 5th Ward Alderman Bill Lynn said. “I was assured it would be taken care of or it would take care of itself. But it seems to be getting worse.”
Lynn said that it may be more a matter of perception than reality, but added in the long run, that doesn’t make much difference.
“Perception alone is a big issue,” he said. “Are we going to get to a point where decent people are afraid to go down there? At some point, even if it’s just a perception issue, people will say, ‘I don’t want my kids going down there.’”
Lynn said he may introduce a resolution before the City Council to put a moratorium on future funding for Centennial Park — including a restroom and concession pavilion and new basketball courts — until the “situation is under control” at the skatepark.
Davenport Police Chief Mike Bladel indicated it’s not clear the skatepark itself is the problem.
“Whenever you have a large gathering of individuals, you can have trouble,” he said. “It’s a very large teen magnet, and if you’re going to draw in that crowd, there will be a small percentage that seem to do everything in their power to ruin it for everyone else. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the skatepark, or the mall or at the next teen dance.”
Struckman said the fact there is no supervision at the skatepark allows kids the freedom to behave how they want. However, he said police deal with the same type of issues at festivals, outside taverns and in other areas of the city.
“I don’t think I’d call it a particularly problematic area,” he said. “Any time you assemble two or more people, you have the possibility of disputes. The majority of kids down there are good kids who just want to skate. Whether it’s a playground or a school gym, you’re going to sometimes have those types of problems.”
Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.