TOLEDO, Ohio — A local business is getting an outpouring of support after a fight spilled into its booth during the 419 Taco War event on Saturday.
Stateline Sauce Company co-owner Craig Wagner said his business lost products and property, but they gained something even more valuable: a new community and even more customers.
He said he's thankful for what people have done to help his family's small business after the violence during the family-friendly event.
"It happened in under a minute and it was done, the guys were gone," Wagner recalled about the fight that ended in his tent during the 419 Taco War event.
He said he filed a police report, but that the business' losses were less than they expected.
"It was more of a mess than a loss for us," he said. "Getting our stuff squared away, minor repairs, replacing a little bit of product, that was nothing for us."
Rashawn McDonald, one of the organizers of 419 Taco War, said he's not surprised by the outpouring of support from other vendors as well as members of the community.
"The community always perseveres and comes through for one another," McDonald said. "From my experiences, we are always better together than we are apart."
And now, the community has come together to help the small, family-owned sauce business.
"The people around us, the community, people were walking by trying to hand us money to help the situation. The people on either side of us were asking what we need," Wagner said.
He said the company has already had orders placed online and that people are asking where they can purchase their sauces to support them even more.
"We're going to make do. We're going to be alright. And we're going to keep going because we know we've got a good community around us," he said.
As far as the people involved in the fight, Wagner says you don't have to turn them in, just help them.
"It's a matter of finding something better for them to do and teaching them what's better to do as opposed to locking them up or going after them," he said. The justice would be if they learned their lesson."
Wagner said the fight shouldn't overshadow how great the event itself was, either.
McDonald said the third annual event had 30,000 people in attendance. He also said organizers hope to keep the event downtown next year, as well.
Stateline Sauce Company will be at the Sylvania Farmers Market on Tuesday and the Oregon OH Rollin' Food and Farm Market on Wednesday.