DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After a chaotic first spring break weekend in Daytona Beach, local leaders and law enforcement spent Friday making one thing clear: they do not want a repeat.
A special event zone is now in place across a large section of beachside Daytona, and a temporary youth curfew is also in effect in that area from 8 p.m. - 6 a.m. for anyone under 18 through March 26. The city says the move came in response to recent unpermitted pop-up events that drew large crowds, disrupted traffic and turned unsafe and violent.
The zone covers a broad stretch of beachside Daytona: A1A from University Boulevard south to Silver Beach Avenue, including beach approaches, then west on Silver Beach to South Peninsula, north to International Speedway Boulevard, west to Halifax, north to University Boulevard, and back east to A1A. In the zone, noncriminal traffic fines are doubled, vehicles can be impounded for certain violations and occupancy limits can be enforced if needed.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood told News 6 the enforcement push this weekend is even larger than last week.
“This week, we decided why, you know, we’re going to double what our efforts were. So I had 50 deputies on the beach. There’s over 100 now,” he said.
[BELOW: City’s handling of chaotic Daytona Beach weekend questioned amid pop-up event, shootings]
He said the response is not just about putting more deputies in place for one weekend.
“We’re trying to go after this Brooks, Elijah Brooks, who’s one of the promoters, and this Brittany Plummer for aggravated rioting.”
Chitwood also said investigators and attorneys are looking at what happened to area businesses during last weekend’s chaos.
“We have a private attorney here who has been going around all these businesses to ask how much money they lost last week, with the mobs running into the stores and stealing stuff and cancellations and all the other inconvenience that they had.”
For minors caught in the zone after curfew, Chitwood said enforcement is meant to be immediate and real.
[BELOW: Daytona Beach passes emergency youth curfew ordinance after chaotic spring break weekend]
“If you have an unaccompanied minor, they will be taken out to our juvenile center… They’ll be issued a civil citation, and they’ll sit there till their parents come and pick them up.”
The sheriff said the larger goal is protecting the city, residents and visitors.
“We have to protect our community. We can’t be held economically held hostage, that people are losing their livelihoods because people think it’s their right to come into a city and take it over and commit acts of violence. It’s just not going to happen.”
And for anyone thinking about bringing more trouble to Daytona Beach this weekend, Chitwood’s message was blunt.
“My advice? Stay away.”
The city and sheriff’s office announced the crackdown after a first spring break weekend that authorities say led to 133 arrests countywide. Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young called what happened “an unsanctioned, social media-driven takeover.”
Friday night, the difference from last weekend was easy to spot: deputies and officers staged near the Ocean Center, patrols on and off the beach, and a much more visible law enforcement presence meant to keep Daytona Beach from reliving the chaos seen in those viral videos.