San Antonio RW 151 Thread

Post by **PULSE** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 4:37 pm

'Mad Max' fans run afoul of the SAPD [/font]

Web Posted: 04/18/2005 12:00 AM CDT[/font]

Mariano Castillo

Express-News Staff Writer[/font]

Spooked motorists called police to report a scene so bizarre it could've come from a movie: a convoy of armed men apparently trying to hijack a tanker truck.

In fact, it did come from a movie.

"Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior," to be exact.

Eleven "Mad Max" movie buffs were arrested and charged Saturday afternoon with obstruction of a highway during their theatrical convoy from Boerne to the Alamo Draft House in San Antonio for a movie marathon.

Police received several calls from motorists near U.S. 151 and Loop 410 who reported a "militia" armed with machine guns surrounding a tanker truck, a police report states.

The guns were fake and the tanker truck was part of the act, but two of the collared movie buffs were also charged with possession of prohibited knives.

Someone in the group told police that they were filming a documentary. But instead of sympathy, they got a citation for filming without a permit.

One of the organizers of the event, Chris Fenner, said the arrests were unfair to the group.

Fenner said he was riding a motorcycle behind the tanker truck, and the rest of the convoy was lined up behind him, not speeding or weaving in traffic.

Fenner had even e-mailed police spokesman Gabe Trevino to give the Police Department a heads-up on the event and invite officers to attend.

Along the route to the theater, Fenner had to pull over for a little while, and he arrived at the Alamo Draft House last, only to see a group of police cars there.

"I thought, wow, what a great turnout by the San Antonio police," Fenner said.

Some cops found the situation humorous, but some others were quite agitated and made the arrests, said Fenner, who was confounded that anyone would have confused the costumed crew for a real threat.

"I honestly don't know how that could be, because 'Road Warrior' was so over the top," he said.

About 25 people participated in the convoy, some from across the country, and more than twice that number were expected to attend the movie marathon.

Most were die-hard "Mad Max" fans, like Fenner.

He remembers watching the first "Mad Max" with his father and the second on a date with the woman who would be his future bride.

"I really like cars and motorcycles, and they're great car and motorcycle movies," he said.

The convoy was part of an event dubbed "Road War 151," which was to culminate with the movie marathon.

The marathon was canceled after the arrests.

According to the Web site roadwarusa.com, actor Vernon Wells, who portrayed the character "Wez," was to appear at the marathon.

Of those arrested, Jeffrey Kuykendall, 25, was charged with three counts of obstruction of a highway and possession of a prohibited knife. William Rodriguez, 20, faced one count each.

The others, charged with single counts of obstruction were Fenner, 42; Sean Richmond, 20; Joseph Goss, 45; Kevin Wright, 35; Robert Castro, 35; Gary Minter, 43; Karol Bactoszynski, 29; Christopher Medellin, 35; and Steven Shelton, 58.

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Post by **moko** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 5:46 pm

oh please ....what a bunch of a-holes .....atleast some of the cops anyway.

Post by **moko** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 5:56 pm

i feel sorry for Mr. Vernon Wells coming down...and all that happening,and cancelling the marathon.......

tell us in detail what "wez" thought about all this.......lol....

Post by **March Hare** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 5:59 pm

IF YOU"RE GONNA WASTE THE BRONZE.... YOU GOTTA DO IT BIG!

Hey PULSE, Any chance I could maybee get you to "snail mail" me a copy of the newsprint?...I know you bought the news stand out !..

Post by **Duncan** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 7:02 pm

Thats so sh*t. I hate it when boring people can't understand why people with a interesting life want to have a bit of fun.

Everyone get out of jail ok?

Post by **ydx7** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:02 pm

That really sucks!!!!!

You would think that since the cops were informed beforehand, there would have have been at least one around to keep things all legal-like.

Were the local tv stations alerted beforehand? If so, I would think there would have been a news crew or two filming the convoy, which may have kept people from thinking something was wrong.

If any fellow members are also involved with other sci fi/fantasy stuff, they should post this story elsewhere, and suggest boycotting SA for conventions in a show of solidarity. Even the SW'ers should be outraged at this injustice.

Post by **March Hare** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:49 pm

Did anybody think of hanging flyers up in ALL the local donut shops...LOL...LOL

Post by **joe-don-baker** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:27 pm

Hi there-

I was part of the "Road War 151" event that Saturday, and I must say, it was fantastic! Granted, we got arrested, and due to some cease and decist order from MGM, the films were not allowed to be shown. I was the one charged with unlawful weapons and obstruction of traffic. Suffice to say, the 18 hours I was in jail sort of sucked, but we made the most of it. For the record, there were no machine guns whatsoever. My brother and I (who wasn't even mentioned in the article, so his charges got lumped onto mine for some reason) worked on a replica of the zip gun Wez had in Road Warrior. To hold it in place, I had a leather worker friend build me a large belt and D ring harness, and I strapped myself in to the back of the truck with truck tie downs. I held onto the zip gun replica, made of PVC pipe. I suppose the paint job and my costume was too much for most citizens to bear, so the phone calls started. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk much with Mr. Wells, as I was being arrested, but from what little I got out of him, he thought the arresting thing was stupid. He was not part of the rabble, as about half of the convoy had stopped when someone broke down. I don't want to say too much, as I am out on bail (we all are, as far as I know), and I'm getting ready to go run some errands, but I'll try to post back later when I get a free chance. My brother and I did laugh though as the story has gotten rapidly out of proportion, AP stating that 11 fans were "wielding fake machine guns, swarming around a tanker" (the tanker was rented, by the way. And after they let the driver go, the police changed their minds and tracked him down and arrested him, too. He was a nice guy). I just felt sorry for the two fellas from Dallas, and that super cool guy from MadMaxCostumes, who flew all the way from San Fran to attend.

Post by **Karol** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:59 am

Here's all the articles you will ever need on this:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&t ... 50418.html

I spent 20 horrible hours in San Antonio jails over Saturday night. For the most part, the cops laughed at us and treated us like crap. The charges are absolutely ridiculous and I will help anyone and do what I can with my lawyer to see that this whole situation is resolved justly and fairly.

It was an exciting and eventful weekend. Having breakfast with Vern was something I'll never forget. He had so many stories and great info. I'll never forget any part of this past weekend!

Karol

Post by **moko** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:23 am

thanks for the links Karol.....

tell us some of the stories Mr. wells told you....and get those lawyers on the police dept.

....oh yea ....and some pics.....woowhooo.