ST. LOUIS — Video taken on Locust St. around 3 a.m. on Easter Sunday shows people jumping on cars and dancing on them before another car driving by throws something that hits a parked car. The yelling continues while some people hang out of the windows of a car that had been driving in the street.
"That video did not surprise me in any way, shape, or form," nearby store manager Justin Pilarski said.
Pilarski runs Big Shark Bicycle Company's downtown location just yards from where that video was recorded. He says they've had their fair share of problems with broken windows, and stolen merchandise, but there's nothing more they can do.
"I would have to have somebody, or multiple people, staffed here all night long," he said of overnight security officers, though adding "chances are not just one individual is going to be coming in. So I wouldn't risk putting just one person here."
Public Safety Director Dan Isom similarly said they're doing what they can but the next step, barricading downtown streets, wouldn't work for businesses or residents.
"Our strategy has been to have enough officers in place with the intelligence we have as groups are to come down and congregate, to do enforcement and then try to divert the traffic and push it out of downtown," Isom said of a large event that came downtown this weekend.
Police tweeted Friday they were aware of "Slideshow Weekend," expecting big groups of riders. They said they would address noise ordinance and traffic violations if needed.
"It is really about blocking off access and we will have to gauge whether or not the cost and benefits of doing that," Isom said.
Pilarski said they're in a lease with their downtown location. Moving is an option, but they take their mission seriously to serve their clients downtown.
"This is a neighborhood. We're a neighborhood bike shop," he said.
For now, the risks come with this territory.