Tampa Police see a growing number of YouTube fight videos popping up
One officer calls them staged fights to entertain
Posted: 10/11/2011
TAMPA - There have been a growing number of videos popping up on You Tube, showing staged fights in Tampa neighborhoods, several of them in Tampa Heights, police said.
"What they look like is pre-planned fights," said Tampa Police Officer Neal Smith, who patrols Tampa Heights. "It's almost like a fight club type of situation where you have multiple people gathering in a crowd."
Two YouTube videos displaying fights in Tampa Heights were uploaded in the past week. One showed two women fighting. In another video, several different pairs of men square off in fights. One man can be seen carrying a club as a weapon. At one point the crowd watching the fight dispersed when a loud bang, like a gunshot, rang out.
Children are present in several of the videos.
"I am greatly disturbed by this," said Pastor Jeffery Singletary of the Central Tampa Baptist Church. "This is not the answer. This is not how we settle our differences," said Singletary.
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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