Finger pointing over sign theft leads to explosive fracas among Fairmont fireworks dealers

Jul. 5—FAIRMONT — Tyler Williams, 26, was minding his fireworks tent in the Fairmont Avenue Price Cutter parking lot late last week when an unwelcome visitor came to his tent.

"This lady pulls up, I had no idea who she was at the time, she just pulls up in a car," Williams said. "Starts getting in my brother-in-law's face talking about, Oh we're all kinds of swear words, thieves, blah blah blah blah blah. I'm like, what are you talking about? She said, 'you stole my company's custom made signs.'"

The accusation befuddled Williams.

The fracas also ignited a feud between Williams and Meredith Winston, who helps manage the fireworks tents in Fairmont, including the one by the Bellview Price Cutter. The feud also dismayed the respective owners of the tents, Keystone Fireworks and Fireworks WV. Keystone is based in Pennsylvania and Fireworks WV is based in Carolina.

The feud has its origins in a sign theft Winston herself recently suffered at her tent by the Dairy Creme Corner. Fireworks WV bought two local, custom made directional signs pointing customers to their tent by the ice cream joint, said Don Miller, owner of Fireworks WV. Those, along with two generic signs purchased in Missouri, were stolen.

Winston declined to talk to the Times West Virginian, referring calls to Miller for comment.

Winston drove by Williams' tent later, and spotted signs that were identical to the generic ones stolen from her tent. Miller said what convinced Winston the signs on the Keystone tent were stolen, was that while Keystone did use the generic sign template, they also had the Keystone logo printed on them. Since these did not, she came to the conclusion Williams had stolen them from her tent.

Shenanigans ensued. Winston and Williams exchanged harsh words.

"I was like, 'honestly I don't get paid enough to argue with you,'" Williams said. "Take the sign and leave. I had to wave down a cop to get her to calm down. I did — I started calling her names. I was like, you can calm yourself and leave. You're not gonna tell me what to do in all this. I thought it would be over at that. When she left me and the officer were laughing about it when she left."

It was not over at that.

On Saturday, June 29, Williams once more kept an eye on his inventory. Winston and some of her crew and friends went to the Harvest Moon Lounge on Fairmont Avenue in the evening. It's not clear if the next interaction between Williams and Winston happened before or after the bar. Miller said one of his company's employees confronted Williams over the harsh language Williams used against Winston. Williams later identified Winston's employee as Andrew Plachta. As far as Miller was aware, the confrontation ended there and everyone got in their cars and left.

However, Williams said, the confrontation did not end at words.

"Next thing I know, [Plachta's] taking off of all my signs," Williams said. "Like, actual trademarked Keystone signs. I'm like, this is ridiculous. I said, 'you need to put my stuff down,' and he reached in his pants and said, 'get back, I'm gonna blow your brains out.'"

Plachta took off running, but, the police picked him up, Williams said. They also talked to Winston, who at one point told Plachta to get in her vehicle. After police finished talking to Plachta they dropped him off across the street, leaving Williams in disbelief Plachta was released so close by after being threatened. Police told Williams they had nothing to charge Plachta with.

"I had one officer who was doing his best to help me, but even he was like, 'doesn't seem like anyone's helping you.'"

The evening did not improve. Later that night, someone drove around the tent, threatening Williams to leave the tent or someone would hurt him and his wife and brother-in-law, who are also working the tent with him. The harassment continued in other ways as well.

At that point, Keystone Fireworks Vice President of Retail Sales Operations Rick Seery got involved. Seery said that out of the 400 locations Keystone operates from Rhode Island to Connecticut, this is the most bizarre thing to happen to him in the last six years.

Seery said he spoke to a woman connected to Fireworks WV, and came to a cease and desist agreement. Williams had posted about the harassment on social media, signaling out Winston and her company's role in the matter. The agreement included Williams taking down the post, to which he agreed. From there, the matter seemed squashed. As far as any threats or harassment, the woman on the phone disavowed knowing who was responsible for the continued harassment.

"I said to her that she needs to be responsible, because it starts there," Seery said. "It did start with the tent operators having some sort of disagreement. We're trying to prevent escalation. She seemed to want that as well. So I accept that from her. Seems like some other people, maybe they don't feel that same way. I'm not sure. I'm not sure what position, if any, they have with this company. I just don't know."

Miller shared his belief that friends of Winston may have taken it on their own to protect her honor and that of Fireworks WV. He knows of no one at the company who was directly involved with harassment. Miller also said Winston could have done the reasonable thing and contacted the police to let them look into her suspicions.

More than anything, Seery wants Williams to operate his tent safely without harassment. Miller said he hadn't heard about any attempt to quash the beef from Keystone, however, prior to Winston disconnecting the call with the Times West Virginian, she did mention a cease and desist of some kind. She also threatened consequences if her company's name was mentioned before escalating the call to Miller.

The harassment didn't end. Signs continued to be stolen and on Wednesday, fed up with the situation, Williams made another social media post. He's hopeful that with press attention, the harassment will end. It's taken a toll on his mental health and general wellbeing. He said he stays awake all night because he fears for his life. When his wife and brother-in-law come in to open the tent, they allow Williams to get some sleep in the back. He doesn't trust customers and called it nerve wracking for no reason at all.

Williams said the generic signs Winston ignited the feud over are easy to find online and only cost $15 for a pack of 12. Keystone provided all his signs, including generic and branded. He also had his tent up several days before Winston's tent, and couldn't physically leave his tent because of the volume of work he had.

Miller and Seery want to put the entire incident behind them. Miller said Winston is the one who's scared of Williams. Behavior from any of his employees like this would shock him, Miller said. He said disciplinary action would hinge on how long an employee had worked for Fireworks WV and what kind of relationship they had with the company. Miller is also familiar with Keystone Fireworks.

"They're a reputable company," he said. "Nothing against them whatsoever. I mean, I'll compete with them, but I'll do it legitimately."

Winston is currently poised to take control of the company next year.

Williams is hopeful the press attention will bring an end to the harassment. He's looking forward to sleep. Williams is grateful for the support he's received from Keystone, however, after 5 years working for Keystone, he's ready to call it quits after this incident. It's a personal blow for him. It's how he connected with the community after first moving here.

"Literally this firework tent is what settled me into Fairmont," Williams said. "And now I don't feel OK to operate it anymore. I shouldn't feel like I gotta' keep that kind of eye on everybody."

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com