Indiana C-Store Cracks Down On Loitering
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Loitering and crime is nothing new to most convenience store owners, but at Always Open in South Bend, Ind., the police tried a new approach toward solving the old problem, reported WNDU TV NewsCenter in Indiana.
About 50 officers surrounded the store and were preparing to confront 70 to 80 people who were loitering in the parking lot. The original plan was to sort out the innocent from the guilty at the scene, but those plans changed when 30 to 40 shots were fired in the area, the NewsCenter reported.
According to South Bend Police Chief Tom Fautz, it was the fired shots that "forced our hand on what we were going to do. We had to respond immediately then," he explained to the NewsCenter. "It means viewing videotapes and sifting through police reports now."
A total of 69 people were arrested for trespassing. So many people were arrested at one time they had to be transported to the jail by bus, according to the report.
About 50 officers surrounded the store and were preparing to confront 70 to 80 people who were loitering in the parking lot. The original plan was to sort out the innocent from the guilty at the scene, but those plans changed when 30 to 40 shots were fired in the area, the NewsCenter reported.
According to South Bend Police Chief Tom Fautz, it was the fired shots that "forced our hand on what we were going to do. We had to respond immediately then," he explained to the NewsCenter. "It means viewing videotapes and sifting through police reports now."
A total of 69 people were arrested for trespassing. So many people were arrested at one time they had to be transported to the jail by bus, according to the report.