CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater beach businesses say teen takeovers are now costing them money. On Sunday night, a 17-year-old was injured during a takeover that broke out in gunfire.
“We got word that there were shots fired and big crowds of people running around getting in fights,” said Justin Miller, manager of the Salty Island.
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Miller said the only reason he can remember for closing his restaurant early was a hurricane, but now you can add a teen takeover to the list.
“We lost a couple of hours of business because of the situation, and when we were turning people away, we were telling them, ‘Hey, either go back home or to your hotel rooms and stay safe,’” said Miller.
The shots were fired on Coronado Drive, just a block away from Sammy Hanoch’s new store, Aloha Beach Shop Inc. Hanoch also decided to close early.
“Very frustrating, closing early is losing money, and that’s not something that we want, we don’t want this for our customers,” said Hanoch.
One of those potential customers is Shari Carpenter, who is visiting from South Carolina. She told me her family had plans for dinner and music, until they heard the violence.
“We decided the best and safest place for us last night was in the hotel and not to leave, it’s unfortunate because that is one day of our vacation we lost out on,” said Carpenter, who said it still doesn’t change the way she looks at Clearwater. “No, it doesn’t because it can happen anywhere really.”
As for these businesses, they said it’s a shame they must spend the first week of summer vacation defending one of the world's most beautiful beaches.
“It’s very safe down here, and for something like that to happen was kind of like a shock to people, really,” said Miller.
“Beautiful place, come on over, this just happened one time, I’m sure it’s not going to happen again,” said Hanoch.
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