Arrests At Redneck Games

If you got arrested between August 2-5 reveling in a mud bog 70 miles southeast of Dallas with a 12-pack in the cab and a mattress in the back of your truck, you just might have been at the Summer Redneck Games.

Modeled after a similar event staged in Georgia for several years, the four-day "Redneck Games," which included a stage and performance by country artist Kevin Fowler, attracted an estimated 6,000 people and resulted in more than 50 arrests and citations. Police are considering filing charges against the organizer, and an investigation is under way.

One event, dubbed the "Mattress Chunk," called for a team of two to down a 12-pack of beer, drive a mattress-laden pickup to a destination point then get in the back and toss the mattresses out as far as possible. It appears some of the contestants were over .08 and feelin’ great.

Charges ranged from public intoxication to speeding, according to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department.

"I’m an old fuddy duddy and all that, but you got a vehicle, you got alcohol, and you got illegal dumping, and you’re making a contest out of that?" said Lt. Pat McWilliams, a sheriff’s department spokesman. "We are very fortunate that we didn’t have a fatality."

Other lively, but presumably not family-oriented, fun included the "ugly butt-crack contest," a "Daisy Duke Show-Off" for women wearing the trademark cutoff shorts, and a contest for the person who could throw an engine starter the farthest. Prizes ranged from $40 to $200 per contest – hopefully enough to pay any fines resulting from possible arrest.

The organizer, Oscar Still of Kilgore, Texas, could face a misdemeanor charge for not having a permit to stage the event. Texas law requires a permit for any gathering of more than 2,500 people. The charge carries a maximum $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.

During the event, some two dozen troopers, a dozen agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, 38 sheriff’s deputies and other local law enforcement were there at various times for crowd control, according to McWilliams.