Athens Review, Athens, Texas

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October 30, 2009

One youth hurt at Seven Points party

By Art Lawler Staff Writer

SEVEN POINTS — A Saturday night ruckus broke out at a party in the Persimmons Creek area of Quail Run and Jess Hinton late last Saturday and early Sunday morning.

What happened depends on who’s doing the telling, but it resulted in one minor youth air-flighted to East Texas Medical Center, Tyler, and a Seven Points man “detained” in the city jail for about five hours.

Christopher Thompson, 37, was arrested, but not charged after police arrived on the scene. Witnesses said he was holding two loaded weapons, one a shotgun, and the other a rifle. But police have not confirmed that.

Various reports received by the Athens Review indicate methamphetamine drugs were seen at the party, and that under-age teenagers were seen consuming alcohol on a vacant lot between the residences, a lot owned by party host, Keith McConnell.

Some witnesses say Thompson, a truck driver, actually aimed the weapons at McConnell. But Seven Points police officer Dusty Bryant, who worked the case, said Thompson never actually aimed the weapons at McConnell or anyone else.

That was in conflict with a Seven Points arrest report, which listed the charge as “deadly conduct — pointed firearm.”

Bryant explained Friday that the Deadly Conduct charge was wrong, and that it would be changed to be “disorderly conduct” once he had completed his narrative, and finalized his report.

Bryant said he took Thompson into custody while the investigation was being completed at the site.

He said he also escorted McConnell from the vacant lot back to his home in the early-morning hours.

“Both men were intoxicated,” Bryant said.

Bryant added that the weapons were loaded, and that Thompson was holding them in each arm when police arrived.

Seven Points Mayor Gerald Taylor, who has been involved in several controversies in the city in recent weeks, said he and other elected officials attended the party, but that he saw no drugs or underage teenagers drinking.

He said when he returned to the site, not far from his home, that he saw firearms lying on the hood of Thompson’s pickup truck.

The mayor said the party has been held annually for the last five or six years at the site on the weekend before Halloween. He said he and McConnell had been friends for several years.

“He (Thompson) was not charged,” Bryant emphasized. Thompson, in fact, was released about 6 a.m. Sunday without any charges filed.

“Both sides said they didn’t want charges filed because the two men were “good friends,” Seven Points Police Chief, Brad McConahay said.

The incident that caused the ruckus, according to Bryant, was that of a group of young girls at the party who began “mouthing” to each other.

Witnesses said Thompson went over to the girls in an attempt to break them up. When he did, he was confronted by McConnell, and heated words were exchanged, some of which, witnesses say, were racial slurs.

Thompson left the party for an undetermined amount of time, but returned later in his pickup truck. Words were again exchanged, and police were called back to the scene, where they found Thompson holding the weapons, according to Bryant.

McConahay said there were some underage youths drinking, but they were with their parents.

“There’s really nothing we can do about that,” he said.

Later in the evening, Taylor said he was sitting on his front porch when he heard noises, and returned to the party location to determine what was happening.

He said he found a young girl sitting on some grass. He was worried officials at the site may have sat the girl down on a bed of fire ants, but apparently she wasn’t.

A short-time later, the child was air-flighted to Tyler, because of what Taylor called “a panic attack.”

The girl , Bryant said, has a history of anxiety attacks, and that she was fine the next day.

One witness told the Review that when the altercation between several girls ensued, that the girl who had the ‘panic attack’ jumped on Thompson’s back, and that he threw her off.

But Taylor said there was no physical violence that he saw, and Bryant agreed with him.

A 20-year-old man at the site, Corey Hodges, was cited for being in possession of a pipe containing what was believed to be marijuana residue, Bryant said. But police say no other drugs were seen at the site.

Seven Points police, witnesses say, were called to the location two or three times because of complaints.

The party actually took place between the residences on a lot owned by McConnell, Taylor said.

Taylor said he helped make the stew for the occasion. He said he and McDonnell had been friends for several years, dating back to when McConnell was a city employee.

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