Woman charged with four felonies after fight at Columbia recreation spot
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Boone County prosecutor's office has charged a woman with four felonies, including two weapons charges, in connection with a fight at Columbia's Activity and Recreation Center over the weekend.
Assistant prosecutor Paul Wade charged Lakeisha R. Thomas of Columbia on Monday with second-degree assault, third-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. She remained in the Boone County Jail without bond Monday evening.
More details on the accusations against Thomas were not available Monday afternoon.
Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Roger Johnson confirmed that Thomas was charged in connection with the fight at the ARC.
A boy was also arrested, according to police, for assault, making terroristic threat and a weapons offense. He was turned over to the Boone County Juvenile Office.
Two other people were also arrested for the disturbance and released on citation.
Sydney Olsen, Spokesperson for the City of Columbia says, the four people arrested have been banned from the ARC and all city parks.
According to Olsen, two park rangers patrol and monitor all parks, trails and facilities and during peak times the rangers will spend an extended amount of time at the facility to provide security.
Over the past month, Olsen says, security has been patrolling on the weekends during the summer months since those days have the highest amount of people using the facility.
In 2018, Parks and Recreation staff replaced all existing cameras in the building and added additional cameras to expand coverage in the ARC.
Olsen says, those cameras helped officers identity the individuals involved in Sunday's incident.
Staff will also be working with city IT staff to determine if additional security cameras should be added to the facility for even more coverage.
Police were sent to the ARC on Sunday afternoon for a fight with a possible shooting but officers were unable to confirm that any shots were fired, the Columbia Police Department said in a statement Sunday night.
A witness told ABC 17 News the incident started out as a fight between two groups that escalated to someone with a gun threatening to shoot.
CPD said a woman hurt a boy and the boy was taken to the hospital.
Police also responded to a second scene at the Gerbes Supermarket across the street from the ARC and say it was directly related to the incident at the ARC.
