Fourth of July party leaves Detroit neighborhood trashed, residents fuming

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Residents of a Detroit neighborhood feared for their safety and were left with a mess after a Fourth of July party got out of hand. Hundreds of people packed the street and left behind tons of trash.

It is hard to tell how many people were there, in images and videos from the scene, neighbors estimate in the hundreds.

"We had over 100 calls to the police officers between all of our neighbors and we got no where with it" said neighbor Toya Robinson. "We were all literally just sitting ducks."

Hard to tell how many people are out here in these images and videos sent to Fox 2… but neighbors think hundreds

"When we came outside and we started asking people to get out of our driveway and to get off our lawn and things like that and turned the sprinkler on to keep them off our lawn, they started throwing bottles," she said.

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Neighbors say a party on the 4th of July wasn’t put on by them but by someone associated with a business adjacent to the residential neighborhood.

The large gathering apparently spilled over onto Lauder off The Lodge and lasted for hours. The people who live there didn’t feel they got enough police response because the party didn’t break up until very early Wednesday morning and according to them, it was very rowdy.

"My daughter screamed and she cried and begged for them to help us," Robinson said, "and they kep saying ‘we’re gonna send em we’re gonna send em’."

Although Robinson says there was some response from police. However, the response was only adequate, pushing her husband to do something before they arrived.

"When he walked out there to defend our house I knew the possibility of him getting shot was massive," she said. "He’s trying to defend our house our family.

"It was total disrespect," said Brad Billingslea, another neighbor fed up with what he saw, which included at least five people with firearms. Two of them were AR-15s.

The clean-up has taken days with refuse and litter dotting several nearby lawns, driveways, and streets. 

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A representative from the city showed up Wednesday afternoon with Detroit police to meet with the community. A meeting is scheduled for Thursday. 

According to DPD, the block party that spilled into local streets was one of several on the Fourth of July. 

"The Detroit Police Department responded to this incident, and officers arrested one person for Carrying a Concealed Weapon. All block parties must be approved by the city of Detroit," read a statement. "Anyone looking to host a block party should contact their local precinct to ensure proper protocols are followed for the safety of the community."