ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) — Police are reviewing their response after officers from multiple agencies were called in to clear nearly 500 people from the Nino Salvaggio's parking lot at 11 Mile and Harper in St. Clair Shores Wednesday night.
Watch Peter Maxwell's video report:
The crowd had gathered for a Cars and Cannolis event during the Harper Cruise charity event, which drew tens of thousands of car enthusiasts. One person was arrested, and another person reported being assaulted.
Video provided by attendee Anthony Argeropoulos and courtesy of Metro Detroit News shows officers moving through the crowd to disperse gatherers. Some officers can be seen pushing people from behind when they refused to leave.
"Cops came in at around, like, 9 pm-9:20 pm, started shutting everything down, trying to kick people out. They gave up for a second, but then they came back in force," Argeropoulos said.
In a second video, a motorcycle rider can be seen revving his engine before officers moved in and attempted to pull the rider from the bike after he did not respond to their commands. Other officers can be seen drawing their Tasers. Argeropoulos believes the police response was excessive.
"I mean I get the burnouts, but I don't know why we need excessive force for these things," Argeropoulos said.
The city of St. Clair Shores said Nino Salvaggio's asked whether they needed a permit to host Cars and Cannolis and was told yes, but never applied for one. That is why police shut the event down. It took approximately an hour to clear the crowd.
Nino Salvaggio's declined to comment, saying it is a police matter.
Shorewood Kiwanis, which organizes the Harper Cruise, had no comment, noting that Cars and Cannolis is not part of the Harper Cruise.
Harper Cruise attendee Joe Lane, who has attended the event for several years, said he is worried future cruises could be affected by what happened Wednesday night, but acknowledged something must have prompted the police response.
"My question is, what is the whole story? You know? What happened prior to that," Lane said.
Fellow attendee Daniel Elles expressed concern about the broader impact on community events.
"It's so difficult to even put on any events because you don't know what's going to happen," Elles said.
Police said body-worn camera footage and social media videos are currently under internal review. St. Clair Shores police have not said what the internal review could lead to.
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