Teenage girls who got in a fight on the midway at the Dodge County Fair will be cited for the incident – and so will bystanders who posted cell phone video on YouTube. Sheriff Pat Ninmann said 13 and 14 year-old girls got into a fight at the Fair last Friday night. Deputies talked with the girls but didn’t become aware of the video until later.
Three people posted cell phone video and Ninmann said they could be cited for failing to render aid, basically not calling authorities or doing something about the fight. “It’s disappointing that we have individuals standing by, watching these girls fight, encouraging them to fight, while videotaping versus calling 911,” Ninmann said. She said the father of some small children can be seen in the video trying to break up the fight, but he’s the only one.
The video has since been taken down by YouTube, but Ninmann says her department got copies on which to base disorderly conduct charges. “The sheriff’s department is taking this very, very seriously. We’re going to go and interview everybody involved, and we’re not just going to pass it on to the parents,” she said. “When you go to the fair . . . it’s a family environment. You don’t take them there to see teenagers acting inappropriately.”
Bob Nelson, KFIZ