BOLIVAR PENINSULA, Texas — In just two days, more than 16,000 people have already signed a petition to end "Go Topless" weekend.
Daniel Wilson, who lives in Winnie, has attended the event and tells 12News that something has to change.
The annual weekend in the middle of May began as a family experience for the Jeep community, but has recently turned into trouble.
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Wilson says "A lot of people that have gone down to the go topless weekend, who are there to enjoy the jeeps, I think that even they have started to shy away."
He adds this past weekend's chaos proves it's time for change and an overwhelming amount of people agree.
"When I started it, I really didn't expect it to get over 500 signatures on it," said Wilson. "But, the out pour of assistance and the out pour of support that I've received has been immense."
Wilson understands that getting rid of the event won't be easy, yet he tells us he'll settle for any changes that improve safety.
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"There are several people who are fed up with the weekend in itself," said Wilson. "It's obviously become a danger to the community and also to the people who are attending."
More than half a dozen agencies from multiple counties were called in over the weekend.
Galveston County first responders tell 12News they answered more than 600 emergency calls, with 125 people ending up in jail.
We spoke with one of those emergency personnel on Sunday and told us they thought they were prepared, but the crowds proved to be too much.
"We thought we had more than we needed. We had air medical on standby each day, just waiting for calls to get flown," said David Gebhartb, an EMS shift supervisor for GCESD #2. "We had other units in other districts ready to come in and back-fill us and yet they still exhausted all of our resources."
Wilson plans to present the petition to county and local officials who govern the Bolivar Peninsula.
