MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People in the Westwood area told WREG there have been too many problems at Crystal Palace, and it needs to be shut down.
“It’s always something in Memphis or up here at the skating rink,” Tarsha Jones said.
Jones wasn’t surprised to hear about the massive teenage brawl at Crystal Palace, or the shooting that followed the next day at one of the victim’s homes.
“It’s not safe no more to take your kids nowhere,” Jones said.
Jones and other people who frequent the area said the skating rink isn’t the family-friendly place it advertises to be.
Instead, many people told WREG Crystal Palace is a haven for crime.
“Fights. They get the shooting out here sometime afterwards — like plenty of stuff happens,” Larry Ward said.
WREG went to Crystal Palace to ask about the ongoing issues and why it seems nothing is being done about it.
A manager named William Bennett admitted fights happen from time to time. However, Bennett said Crystal Palace is doing everything it can to curb crime.
Management said the business typically closes at 11:30 p.m., but plans on closing at 11 p.m. since the fight aired on WREG.
“I be pretty sure they be knowing something is going to happen just like everybody else knows something going to happen,” Ward said.
WREG asked the District Attorney’s Office if Crystal Palace in on their radar for being a public nuisance.
A representative from the DA’s office said they had “not been presented with a nuisance investigation from MPD on the skate rink.”
Police, however, said it will take some time for their staff to notify WREG on the exact number of incidents they have responded to at Crystal Palace in the last year.
Bennett said there were about 800 children and 25 adults, including security staff, inside the skating rink at the time of the fight.
“It’s been enough. That’s what I say. It’s been enough,” Ward said in response to the number of fights the business has had.
People like Ward said something needs to change.
“They should close it down,” Jones said
