Saratoga News

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Fights, accident mar annual Celebrate Saratoga! event

By Michele Tjin

Saratoga city leaders are looking for ways to improve the annual street dance after reports of fights have surfaced and an accident involving a teenage girl and a car left the teen with broken bones.

A 16-year-old Saratoga girl is receiving treatment for injuries she received when she was hit by a car while crossing the intersection of Mendelsohn Lane and Highway 9 on Sept. 15.

The teen was walking with friends around 9:45 p.m. that night, but she was the only one injured. She sustained serious injuries, but they are not considered life threatening. She has broken bones and either a dislocated or a broken jaw, said Sgt. Ed Wise, public information officer with the Santa Clara Sheriff's Department.

The driver has not been cited.

"It's still under investigation," Wise said. "He may have been driving too fast for the road conditions. He should have been able to stop in time. He may be at fault for the accident for that reason."

Investigators have not conclusively determined yet if the accident is related to the Celebrate Saratoga street dance, though it was scheduled from 6-10 p.m. on Big Basin Way the same evening.

"There are witnesses who said she left the event, but that has not been positively confirmed," said Capt. Terry Calderone of the sheriff's office.

Big Basin Way, where the street dance was held, was packed with people this year. According to J.R. Ellis, a board member of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, there were 30,000 community members in attendance. Calderone said the street dance has been growing in popularity with teenagers. Their attendance has roughly doubled in the last couple of years, he said.

This year, there were several reports of fights breaking out toward the end of the night, which Calderone contributes to the increase of teens who attend the street dance.

"Many of them [have been] under the influence or find their ways to be under the influence," Calderone said.

Calderone said he is meeting with the Chamber to determine how the event can be improved and be made safer. He suggested having more deputies on hand and moving the event to an earlier time period, such as 2-8 p.m. There were 34 deputies working at the street dance this year.

Councilwoman Kathleen King is taking his suggestion to the city council and has asked that this item be up for discussion at a future meeting.

"We are seeing more problems with teens," King said.

There was a teen zone set up on Blaney Plaza during the event this year, but King said there have been concerns that the zone could attract too many teens.