Bar patrons take the party outside with New Smyrna Beach cops MIA at peak of New Year's Eve celebration on Flagler

Beachside resident: 'Some night, somebody's going to get killed either from being drunk or getting hit by a drunk'

Jennifer Collier with daughter Ella at NSB New Year's Eve / Headline Surfer

The New Year's Eve party on Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach was a fun night out for Jennifer Collier and her little girl while revelers drank from open containers with no fear of the cops because they weren't around when the fireworks lit up the sky at 9 p.m. and at least the next hour.

Drinking on Flagle Ave / Headline SurferPatrons drink outside the Om Bar on New Year's Eve / Headline SurferBicyclist drinks bee while pedaling on Flagler on New Year's / Headline SurferHeadline Surfer photos and video by Henry Frederick / At left, a man and woman enjoy their beer out in public on Flagler Avenue before hitting the road for the drive home. Above, a patron hangs out with friends on the public sidewalk in front of the Om Bar after the fireworks. In the smaller inset picture, a bicyclist holds a plastic red cup of beer in his right hand while pedaling on the avenue. 

 NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Jennifer Collier got an eyeful when she took 6-year-old daughter, Ella, to the New Year's Eve fireworks celebration on Flagler Avenue where countless people among the crowd of 2,000 were drinking right out in the open.

And where were cops when the crowd had reached its peak for the night of ringin' in the new year? Not on the avenue. At least not for the better part of the hour when the fireworks show started promptly at 9 p.m., a mere 3 minutes that even Collier's daughter took note of with a frown when asked to describe them.

"They were short," the little girl said, seated at small table outside Mango Tango's, the yogurt shop set back a ways from the avenue, where the vast majority of revelers were making the mad dash back to their vehicles -- many with kids in tow to their vehicles.

Collier said she decided to wait with her daughter out of an abundance of caution for that first big wave of motorists to leave because of her fear that any number of them could be under the influence.

As for her daughter being exposed to adults drinking and having a merry time, the 40-year-old mom shrugged her shoulders. 

"It doesn't bother me as much as long as they're not going to drive," the New Smyrna Beach mom said of the drinking, but added she wasn't sticking around too long as the partying started to heat up among the true partyers who walked in and out of the half dozen bars without fear of the long arm of the law.

"It doesn't bother me as much as long as they're not going to drive," the New Smyrna Beach mom said of the drinking, but added she wasn't sticking around too long as the partying started to heat up among the true partyers who walked in and out of the half dozen bars without fear of the long arm of the law.

Hangin' out on Flagler and celebrating New Year's eve / Headline SurferPosing with bees on Flagler / Headline SurferNew Year's Eve revelers on New Smyrna Beach's Flagler Avenue pose for photos without hesitation, with cold beer in hand in red plastic cups, with no worries about the cops who weren't around as they partied in celebration of New Year's Eve.

And why not?

Even when police had a presence last year, they did nothing to enforce the city's open container law against drinking in public. Not one ticket was written then. Not one person was taken to jail. Not one person was ordered to at least empty their cup.

This time, the police didn't bother to show up, at least not from what Headline Surfer could see from its vantage point walking back and forth on Flagler several times and snapping up images of the public drinking, even in the presence of children like Collier's little girl.

Headline Surfer tried to reach the overnight shift supervisor on duty by plascing a calll and leaving a request with the Volusia County Sheriff's dispatch for a callback, but it went unanswered.

In New Smyrna Beach where the city has given the bar owners several hundred thousand in CRA taxpayer dollars over the past five years for after-hours street parties, the culture of looking the other way with the drinking comes from city hall administration and the elected leaders themselves, led by a mayor who owns two wine bar restaurants and who admitted when he ran for office in 2009, to "getting a DUI" when he was younger.

Though the intent of Community Redevelopment Agency is to address blight through bricks and mortar, the city long ago adopted a policy of "feet on the street" instead, claiming that was a means to address blight by drawing customers. But all it is really translating into is more sales for the bars, which also have received substantial CRA funding for newer facades and other improvements.

All ttold, the city will have budgeted in excess of $2 million in CRA taxpayer-supported funds since 2009, for improvements to bars and eateries that promote beer and wine sales as well s advertising and promortion for alcohol-fueled street parties like this one by the end of calenddar year 2013, according to municipal figures obtained from publioc records by Headline Surfer.

Trader's Pub is packed on New Year's Eve on Flagler / Headline SurferJust two months ago, Mayor Adam Barringer was part of a unanimous vote to give at least $60,000 worth of CRA funding to his boyhood friend, Dave Fernandez, owner of Trader's Pub on Flagler, and well known to law enforcement over the years.

Just two months ago, Mayor Adam Barringer was part of a unanimous vote to give at least $60,000 worth of CRA funding to his boyhood friend, Dave Fernandez, owner of Trader's Pub on Flagler, and well known to law enforcement over the years.

Like the other cigar bars on the avenue, Traders was jammed with patrons, as was the Om Bar, the Flagler Tavern, Peanut's and O'Brian's.  

Though beachside neighbors like Deb Dugas have taken their complaints about noise and rowdiness associated with drinking directly to the commission meetings, at the conclusion of their 3-minutes of speaking time in public participation, the mayor has consistently responded by saying "thank you" and nothing else with the others on the dais remaining silent.

Police Chief Ronald Pagano, who retired Dec. 31, routinely sat in the front row of the meetings but remained silent as well.

"They never say anything -- they just look at you," Dugas said of the city's administration headed by City Manager Pam Brangaccio and the mayor and commissioners.

"They never say anything -- they just look at you," Dugas said of the city's administration headed by City Manager Pam Brangaccio and the mayor and commissioners. 

Patrons drink beer right outside Peanut's Bar on Flagler / Headline SurferNew Year's eve folks drink beer in front of O'Btrian's bar on Flagler / Headline SurferAt far left, a woman seated second in near the entrance to Peanut's Bar enjoys beer in a clear plastic cup, with friends displaying their party favors for the New Year's Eve celebration on Flagler Avenue. In the photo at right, a woman with a beer in a clear plastic cup stands in the street in front of the Tayton O'Brian's Bar.

The mayor has not retrned Headline Surfers repeated inquiries for comment since Thanksgiving.

Michael Brouillette, now the interim chief, told Headline Surfer several days after the 2011 New Year's Eve celebration on Flagler that if officers "see a violation they take action, whether that is to write a ticket or make them pour out the alcohol." Brouillette's measured comments were delivered even after Internet newspaper's coverage included confronting cops on camera about the drinking right in front of them.

Michael Brouillette, now the interim chief, told Headline Surfer several days after the 2011 New Year's Eve celebration on Flagler that if officers "see a violation they take action, whether that is to write a ticket or make them pour out the alcohol." Brouillette's measured comments were delivered even after Internet newspaper's coverage included confronting cops on camera about the drinking right in front of them.

Last year's New Year's Eve on Flagler / Headline Surfer

The file photos and video from last year's New Year's Eve party on Flagler had the presence of cops even though they did not enforce the open container law, with one exception when Headline Surfer approached them directly and rhetorically asked if it was OK for a couple standing in front of the Om Bar with beer in glasses. He said it wasn't and had them go back into the bar.

During the previous New Year's Eve celebration, the New Smyrna Beach cops had a visible presence on Flagler, even though they did nothing to stop revelers from drinking on the public street and sidewalks as shown in these twoHeadline Surfer file photos.

Cops on Flagler at last New Year's Eve on Flagler / Headline SurferHeadline Surfer asked: "Is it OK that people are drinking right now in front of the Om Bar in front with alcohol? An officer resplied, N"o, we'll go over and we'll talk to them."

The cop did just that but he didn't arrest them nor did he have them empty the beer.

Instead, he let them take the drinks back inside and spoke briefly with the bouncer.

A violation of the city's ordinance against carrying an open container of alchol in public is considered a misdemeanor that could land the ticketed person a night in jail if they can't afford the $100 bond.

However, Headline Surfer learned from its own inspection of arrest reports having an open container showed that of the two dozen people charged with the misdemeanmor in the past two years, none of the arrests were made during any of the six annual CRA-funded street parties put on by the Merchants of Flagler Avenue.

Police administrators like Brouillette said the lack of arrests during these festivals is strictly coincidental.

Fast forward to Monday night during that peak hour for New Year's Eve: There were no cops on scene to enforce the law.

And that meant a sleepless night for Deb Dugas, who lives just one block east of Flagler, who had rto endure rowdy and loud patrons she said she saw staggering to their vehicles parked along the side streets like hers, leaving her wondering: "How many of these people are driving off drunk? Someday somebody's going to get killed.""

And that meant a sleepless night for Deb Dugas, who lives just one block east of Flagler, who had rto endure rowdy and loud patrons she said she saw staggering to their vehicles parked along the side streets like hers, leaving her wondering: "How many of these people are driving off drunk? Some night, somebody's going to get killed either from being drunk or getting hit by a drunk.""

Related:

Robert Lee Freeman of New Smyrna Beach / Headline SurferEnforcement of open container law non-existent when party's on Flagler in New Smyrna