MANNING, South Carolina — A business owner in Manning is frustrated after a large crowd began fighting near his shop and broke his front windows.
Sunday was a day of cleanup for Joseph Pedalino at Southeastern Technology. His business is located at the corner of Brooks and Boyce Streets in Manning. According to the Manning Police Department, early Sunday morning, his building was vandalized, and his front windows were smashed.
Security video from Pedalino's storefront shows a large crowd coming out of the event venue "Brunch-O-Holiq" early Sunday morning. According to the incident report, between 75 and 100 people came out of the venue, with some yelling, cursing, and starting fights. The report said a police car was parked by the venue and pulled up outside, where officers began dispersing the crowd, at times using pepper spray and a taser. Then, the video shows a small group walking away from the commotion, and just seconds later, you hear glass shatter, and the group begins yelling.
"The fact you have people out here that just bust out your window. This is our livelihood. My wife and I, we run our own business. I have two kids, I feed them from this money," Pedalino said.
Julia Nelson, the mayor of Manning, described the incident as "an unfortunate and disgraceful incident."
"It is not the type of behavior expected nor representative of our community," she said. "I understand once our officers arrived on the scene, every measure was taken to gain control and end this disturbance. I'm appreciative for their efforts and actions in handling this situation."
Mayor Nelson also apologized to anyone who had property damage or a negative impact from the incident.
Tierra Hilton, the owner of Brunch-O-Holiq, also issued a statement.
"We wouldn't want that to happen to anybody. We don't condone that. We will no longer have those kinds of parties," she said. "We will not have those kind of parties because they can't handle it."
Jamie Mathis, who owns Brunson Pharmacy just a few doors down from the scene, said this circumstance comes when the town grows and doesn't see it becoming a trend.
"There's going to be issues wherever. It is what it is," he said. "Crime doesn't stop. I don't foresee that - I don't worry about that for me."
Pedalino said he hopes to see the city make changes to keep something like this from happening again.
"If we continue to have issues like this, what incentive is there for a small business owner to take a chance and open up a business down here when you know you're going to have problems with that?" he asked.
Manning Police said the incident is still under investigation.
