Teen starts fight with sheriff's deputies after being asked to leave fair

Jul. 29—A teenage girl was released to the custody of her parents after causing a ruckus and then fighting with Olmsted County Sheriff's deputies at the Olmsted County Fair on Wednesday evening.

Capt. Scott Behrns said the teen, who was part of a group of 40 to 50 teens who had been causing problems at the fair, was found to be kicking over garbage cans and acting disorderly at the fairgrounds. Deputies on foot patrol there responded to the scene about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when they found the Rochester girl, age 15, causing a commotion.

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Deputies asked the girl to leave and she initially complied, but then turned back and began verbally abusing the deputies and confronting them. When deputies tried to restrain her, she fought back, resisting arrest, Behrns said.

Because of the large group of teens she was with, other deputies patrolling at the fair arrived, Behrns said. While a total of eight to 10 deputies eventually arrived at the scene — essentially the entire contingent assigned to be at the fair Wednesday night — four deputies were spit upon by members of the group, and other teens kicked at deputies.

Eventually, Behrns said, deputies were able to isolate the girl and took her to a secure area. The girl's parents were called and she was turned over to them when they arrived.

"If we had a JDC (juvenile detention center), we'd have put her in it," Behrns said.

The girl is facing potential charges of gross misdemeanor obstruction, assault and disorderly conduct, Behrns said.

"We will look at the body camera video to see if we can catch who was spitting," he said. "If people would just follow the rules, there wouldn't be these problems."