Chief Reports Carnival Crowd Was Best In Years
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WATER VALLEY – The 2023 carnival crowd was one of the most well-behaved in years with the official report from Water Valley Police Chief Jason Mangrum tallying only two arrests, one missing fan, a fireworks-related power outage, one missing child who was quickly reunited with her parents and a half-dozen heat-related medical calls.
“We had a very good carnival overall,” Mangrum told the Herald. “Surviving the heat Saturday was probably the biggest challenge.”
The arrests stemmed from a fight between two female juveniles Friday night. The juveniles were transported to the police department and released to their parents to await proceedings in youth court.
“Officers were able to avert three or four potential fights before they escalated during the weekend,” Mangrum said. “Every one of the officers on the department pulled overtime to help cover the carnival and this strong presence helped. Officers were able to keep everything under control while surviving the heat.”
The missing fan, possibly stolen, was reported by members of The Garden Club of Water Valley. Mangrum said that with all of the activity, people and equipment in the park, someone could have picked up the big, yellow fan by mistake.
“If you took it by mistake, we would love to get it returned. We can easily work this out,” Mangrum said.
The power outage Friday night was triggered by damage to a transformer from fall-out from the fireworks.
“The electric department did a great job restoring the power. They thought it would take a city-wide outage to make the repairs, but they were able to isolate it,” the chief noted.
Mangrum said there was a report of gunshots fired in the vicinity at the time of the fireworks show and power outage, but an exhaustive search by officers indicates there was no shots. The chief said the likely culprit was someone likely thought the fireworks were gunshots.
The missing child was quickly reunited with her parents. Mangrum said someone spotted the child and brought her to authorities.
“Her mother noticed she was missing and dialed 911. We were able to reunite them in a short time,” Mangrum added.
Mangrum estimated that the crowd may have been down a little from last year’s carnival, citing the heat as a possible factor.
“The forecast also showed a threat of severe storm, I heard several people say they decided not to attend because of that,” he added.
