Opening day for Worlds of Fun over the weekend devolved into a brawl among a large group of teens, which allegedly included a girl punching a sheriff’s deputy. Mary Crawford was there with her grandkids, ages 4 and 10. She said they were traumatized by getting caught with her in the surge of people getting pushed out. She demanded a refund but said she was instead given passes to return. She said she was “appalled” and will not be returning.
Sarah Boyd with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office described a full hour Saturday evening trying to get everyone out, with multiple skirmishes along the way.
A summary of the incident she provided indicated it started at 7:30 p.m. with “100 to 150 teens involved, none of whom appeared to be accompanied by an adult.” It said the initial attempt to move the crowd involved park security, deputies working off-duty, and Kansas City police working off-duty. It described fights continuing to erupt on the way out of the park, as well as in the parking lot. Additional police and deputies were called out to assist.
A parent visiting from Nebraska for a volleyball tournament took video in the parking lot after the crowd of teens was sent out of the amusement park. The parent said they dropped off some of the players at 4 p.m., then got a phone call at 7:30 p.m. from one of the kids asking to be picked up.
“We are from Nebraska and have been to WOF in the past many times as a season pass holder, but [I] would never drop off 15 year old girls again by themselves, even though they were not the problem. The language I heard was unacceptable and would get most in trouble. Unfortunately, it looks like WOF is not as safe as it once was,” the parent said to KCTV5 via a direct message on Twitter.
