Lake County Sheriff doubles deployment after incident involving minors at Catholic church festival

CONCORD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) – Until sunset, there were no concerns about safety or violence at St. Gabriel Catholic Church’s summer festival Saturday. But as night fell, several fights broke out, leading to the arrest of four juveniles, one of whom was illegally carrying a weapon.

Due to the incident, the church leadership of St. Gabriel decided to end the festival early.

“We had a lot of young kids just acting like kids, fighting and getting a little out of control,” said Rory Laugh, co-chair of the festival. “The crowds got bigger and bigger, the fights continued. The sheriffs were quick to intervene and did an excellent job of taking out the offenders.”

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The outbursts of violence appear to be developing into a trend after violence broke out at the St. Clare Festival in Lyndhurst on June 1. Ten teenagers were arrested on charges ranging from carrying a concealed weapon to resisting arrest to curfew violations.

Father Fred Pausche is the pastor of St. Gabriel’s Church and said the festival is a safe, family-friendly environment every year, so he is very disheartened by the violence but proud of his congregation’s response.

“To be honest, I was first very angry, then very sad and then very, very proud of our people, our team or our leaders,” said Pausche.

Apart from the youths involved in the fight and a deputy sheriff who suffered minor injuries while assisting in the incident, no one was injured at the festival.

“They were not members of the congregation,” Lough said. “They were from a community outside the area. We don’t know the area, but they were not locals, our congregation. For something like this to happen and bring disrepute to the cause is very disappointing. But instead of canceling our celebration today, we have risen above it, united and stronger than ever.”

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To ensure the safety of guests on the last day of the festival, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department says it has doubled the number of its deputies at the festival.

“There are so many good people in the community and in this parish that deserve to have this good time and come here and have a good time,” said Sergeant John Kelley.

Kelley said there is a zero-tolerance policy toward violence at festivals and over the summer the LCSO plans to increase its presence to prevent further violence. He advises anyone looking to cause trouble to think again.

“If you commit a crime, you will be held accountable here in Lake County,” Kelley said.

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