YOUNGSVILLE, La, (KLFY) A video of a fight that broke out at a Youngsville Mardi Gras parade Saturday is going viral on social media, and police say the video is causing growing concerns in the community.
“When you mix alcohol and immaturity, you seem to get these little scuffles like we had,” Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux said.
The 34-second video of the fight was posted on Facebook, and Chief Boudreaux said several people involved in the fight were high school students.
“We’re starting to identify some of the people. We’re getting input from people that happened to see the video and know some of the people involved, so we’re going to take the appropriate action whether its an arrest, whether it’s a misdemeanor summons, or whether it’s a good talking to,” Chief Boudreaux told News 10.
Chief Boudreaux said it was one of seven fights during Saturday’s parade, but his main concern is not the fighting.
“With over 200,000 people here and 116 floats, a few minor fights we had was not a big deal for us,” Chief Boudreaux said.
He said the real problem is underage drinking.
While the video circulates on social media, Chief Boudreaux says he wants to use the opportunity to educate minors on the repercussions of underage drinking.
“It could be jail time, could be community service. There will certainly be court time, so that’s time they’re going to be missing school. It’s going to be costing their parents money. It’ll be costing them money, so it can become quite expensive, especially if they happen to drink and drive,” Chief Boudreaux said.
He also said they have identified where most of the underage drinking happens and will be focusing more on those areas in coming events.