Jul 1, 2008

Zero-tolerance on all fireworks

East Palo Alto police plan crackdown on pyrotechnics

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

After seizing 250 pounds of illegal fireworks in East Palo Alto, police are ramping up a citywide Fourth of July crackdown that will continue throughout the weekend.

Armed with a new "zero-tolerance" ordinance that bans all fireworks - including "safe and sane" types such as sparklers, fountains and ground spinners - police are working overtime to cite anyone seen using fireworks this holiday weekend, including the parents of children caught with fireworks or lighting a fuse.

Police also will be enforcing an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

The city council passed the new law in May in response to residents' complaints about last year's nerve-rattling fireworks displays on city streets.

"Last year it was very intolerable for citizens and the community," police Capt. John Chalmers said.

"This year we plan to have a very strong police turnout."

The police department has canceled days off and will deploy double the normal patrol July 4.

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District also plans to staff two additional units starting Thursday.

There already may be less to light this week, however, after an anonymous tip Sunday helped police snare a Concord man with 250 pounds of "crazy and insane" fireworks such as mortars, 3-foot-long bottle rockets and bricks of firecrackers.

The man, in his mid-30s, was allegedly selling the goods on city streets out of a pickup truck when officers spotted him about 7 p.m. on the 2700 block of Fordham Street.

Officer Shante Williams said he pulled the man over and asked to look in the back of his truck, which was covered. When the man, whose identity has not yet been disclosed by police, agreed to the request, Williams found boxes of explosives and immediately arrested and booked him into San Mateo County jail.

Williams didn't know the fireworks' market value, but said detectives are pursuing some leads that could expose a wider illegal fireworks ring.

Williams said it's unclear how much the man may have already sold to residents.

Because possession of an amount larger than 100 pounds is a felony, the man could face up to three years in prison, depending on his record and other details in the case, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

At Fire Station 2 in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman, East Palo Alto Mayor Patricia Foster and Williams held a press conference Monday behind a pile of fireworks that included a 1 foot by 1 foot box of "Brother's Heavyweights," a 30-cylinder mortar that had handguns painted on the wrapping.

In his 27 years with the district, Schapelhouman said the fireworks seizure is the biggest he's seen.

In the background, as the officials discussed plans for this week, a couple of bottle rockets whistled through the air and exploded.

But Foster said the new ordinance has been highly publicized throughout the community and should prevent a replay of last July 4.

"I don't expect the same level of problems as last year," Foster said.
Schapelhouman said the fire protection district has been pressing the East Palo Alto City Council to pass a ban for some time.

The new law brings the city in line with the rest of the district, which also encompasses Menlo Park, Atherton and parts of unincorporated San Mateo County.

E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.