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Home  2006 News Archive Prattville football fans party hearty, leave paper trail
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Monday, 11 December 2006 |
Prattville football fans party hearty, leave paper trail
By Nigel Duara
Montgomery Advertiser
The crime scene encompasses four city blocks. The evidence dangles from the trees. The motive is clear. The suspects are many.
Prattville residents woke Sunday morning to find their once-pristine downtown ransacked by a toilet-paper-wielding crowd of revelers.
"The case is under investigation," said Prattville Chief of Police Alfred Wadsworth. "There's thousands of witnesses, we have some good leads and good eyewitnesses. The problem is a lack of prosecution on the part of the victims."
Passing in cars and arriving on foot, locals came to witness the havoc wreaked on their trees, bushes and holiday wreaths after Saturday night's state football championship victory over Hoover High School.
In front of the City Hall annex and the Friendly Barber Shop, toilet paper distributed by Dolgencorp Inc. hung from every tree branch within chucking distance.
Early but futile cleanup efforts were stowed in black trash bags and cardboard boxes, the white paper filling garbage cans all along Main Street.
City leaders predicted the revelry would not end soon.
"I have been talking with Coach (Bill) Clark and Coach (Larry) Butler about doing something (to celebrate the Lions' win)," Mayor Jim Byard said Sunday. "We will likely have a celebration at the stadium -- and possibly a parade -- when the trophy is presented so everyone can attend."
Even the mayor's home was not immune from the celebration. There was no sign of panic in his voice as he described the scene downtown and said city crews would begin the official cleanup early today.
While the police have yet to bring anyone in for questioning, some residents have their guesses.
"The whole town, I guess," said a laughing Brenda Wadsworth, wife of Police Chief Wadsworth.
Linda Pitts tried to make sense of the scene when she arrived Sunday from Birmingham.
"What a mess," Pitts said. "But it's worth it."
Pitts, a 1978 graduate of Prattville High School, caught the game on television Saturday night. But she said she had to drive back to her old stomping grounds to see the mayhem in person.
"All the Prattville graduates in Birmingham said, 'Go down there and see what they did,' " Pitts said.
Sissy Clark and her son, Brandon King, were in Birmingham on Saturday. They said they never miss a game.
Brandon, a 14-year-old at Prattville Junior High School, watched the Lions' defensive dominance in person, and said he's ready to contribute to next year's team from the defensive end position.
"They tore it up," Brandon said. "But did you see what they did to downtown?"
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