DEABORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Spirit Festival in Dearborn Heights was shut down early Saturday after large groups of teens caused disruptions, prompting organizers to end the night's events.
Early Dorris, a Detroit resident, was at the festival Saturday with his family when the chaos unfolded.
"We weren't here 30 minutes to an hour, a bunch of teenagers just running and causing chaos, making people run… there was a few fights going on," Dorris said.
Dorris described the scene as overwhelming.
Dearborn Heights police said multiple arrests were made and officers shut down the festival a few hours early before things could escalate.
Police Chief Michael Guzowski addressed the department's response.
"My officers were on top of this from the first moment, and we will continue to respond to the same speed and force every time," Guzowski said.
Dorris said his son only managed to get on one ride before police shut everything down. He and his family returned Sunday to make up for the time lost.
"We were only here a good thirty minutes, I had my little food, I was trying to sit down and eat," Dorris said.
Other festival-goers also expressed frustration over the early shutdown.
"We can say kids are being kids but I feel it's more no common sense no more," Ali Amine, a Dearborn resident, said.
Ali's brother Kassem Amine echoed that sentiment.
"There's no need for that. You know people are coming here to have fun whether you have kids, whether you're a grown up, family, single, coming out with friends," Kassem Amine said.
Dorris said he felt especially bad for the youngest children at the festival.
"We got two, three, four, five six year olds kids about to get trampled over because y'all running through here like maniacs and laughing down the street like it's a big game and it's not a game, life is too serious for this," Dorris said.
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