7/27/2019 6OliaiPaneez-NewspaperArticleTulsaExaminer
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The Tulsa
Examiner------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Tulsa, Oklahoma Monday, January 4, 1965
$1.50______________________________________________________________________________________
Raging Rumble at
the Vacant Lot!
By Paneez Oliai, journalist forThe Tulsa Examiner.
Tulsa, Oklahoma--
On Friday,
January 2, at 7 PM, a large-scale
conflict occurred in a vacant lot in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. A large fight broke
out between the civilians living in th
East, and those living in the West.
Late at night, many groups came
together from the East side, known
as gangs, as well as trucks full of
civilians from the West side. The two
groups of civilians faced off in a
massive brawl, in which many were
injured badly. Those injured include
local hero, Ponyboy Curtis, his two
brothers, Darrel and Sodapop Curtis,
and his close friends, Dallas Winston,
and Keith Mathews. The fight ended
with the West-side civilians
surrendering, but there were massive
injuries for both sides. The aftermath,of the fight, however,
had disastrous
effects.
The fight, set in a vacant lot in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, was, as Ponyboy Curtis
put it, Set to fight for
Johnny. Ponyboys friends, Dallas
Winston, and Keith Mathews, clarify
that after a group of West-side
citizens had attacked East-side
citizen, Johnny Cade, as well as
Ponyboy Curtis, the groups of the
East side decided to team up, and
fight against the groups in the West
side. The groups in the West side
accepted this, and a large-scale fight
ensued. The fight ended with the
West-side citizens surrendering, but
not without leaving casualties on both
sides.
Darry Curtis suffered a cut across
his forehead, as well as a black eye.
Steve Randle suffered a blow to the
side, and needed his left side
bandaged. Keith Mathews requiredfour stitches in his cheek, and
seven
more to his right knuckles, as they
were damaged when fighting with a
West-side citizen. Ponyboy Curtis,
during the fight, had received a kick
to the head, resulting in a mild
concussion afterwards. The final
Curtis brother had no major injuries.
Ponyboy
Curtissuffered a
concussion
from the
fight.
Photo by Heidi Zeiger.
However, the aftermath of the fight
had severe consequences on Curtis
and his friends. Upon winning the
fight, two East side citizens, Dallas
Winston, and Ponyboy Curtis, visite
their reason for participating in the
fight: Johnny Cade. At this time
Johnny Cade was in the hospital, due
to being injured in the process of
saving a group of children from
Windrixvilles burning church, an
with a significant amount of injuries
was fighting for his life. Sadly
Johnny Cade passed away shortly
after the two arrived at the hospital.
In a fit of anger, says Ponyboy, a
witness to the scene, Dallas Winston
fled the hospital, and robbed a nearby
grocery store. After a lengthy chase,
police finally caught him, and moveto apprehend him, but when
Winston
pulled out a firearm, the police were
forced to shoot. The gun, however,
was later found to be unloaded.
Johnny Cades and Dallas Winstons
friends were devastated after
hearing of the news. The Curtis
brothers have settled down to gather
their bearings after facing the death
of two close friends, and look to find
closure. We need to calm down,and clear everything up to heal
our
family. Said Darry Curtis.
