Rick Ross Car Show causes traffic troubles at another event miles away
People who attended the sold-out Southern Soul Festival say it was a nightmare getting to the venue.
They told Channel 2's Tom Jones that traffic was so bad, one man got out and started directing it himself.
People complained the city allocated too many officers to the Rick Ross Car Show. They said it took them more than two hours to get to Wolf Creek Amphitheater.
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Some people gave up and turned around.
'I didn't see any police officers,' Angelia Gay Bankston said.
Bankston says she couldn't believe the bottlenecked traffic trying to get into the amphitheater Saturday.
Fans said the nightmare traffic led to long lines to get in and led to people overheating and requiring medical attention.
'So many people fell out,' she said. 'The ambulance service had a lot to do.'
Sources with the city told me police allocated too many officers to the car show that day.
Police say they assigned 150 officers to manage public safety and traffic, including 34 who volunteered for paid extra shifts.
Mayor Pro Tem Linda Pritchett said there were officers at the amphitheater, but it was not enough.
She said Ross' event in Fayette needed all those officers because of the impact of the event on the South Fulton side.
'It was to make sure that those communities did not have people parking in places they shouldn't,' Pritchett said.
Police said they secured eight deputies to ensure coverage at Wolf Creek. A South Fulton lieutenant was also assigned.
'Oh, I won't be back to the amphitheater,' Bankston said. 'And it's in my neighborhood.'
Police Chief Keith Meadows says Ross' event had 6,000 people, and it was the largest one-day police deployment in city history.
He said the Wolf Creek event was a smaller scale event, so resources were allocated accordingly.
The mayor pro tem said the city will do a better job of planning for these types of events.
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