MACON, Ga. — When you drive into Amerson River Park, there's a sign that's pretty hard to miss. It's big and orange, and it flashes.
If you're not out by 8 p.m., you could find yourself locked on the other side of the yellow gate. But, the swift enforcement is raising some concerns in the community.
It's all a part of the gate closure the park and Bibb County Sheriff's Office are putting back into place.
Juit Smith who works at the park says parkgoers have already fallen victim to not following the rules.
"Around 8 o'clock, about 8:15, 8:20, he said 'I can't find them, I can't find them', so he said 'lock the gate'. We had the billboard up, we had signs and everything so we locked two people in here last night," Smith said.
Micheal Glisson, the county's Parks and Beautification Director says it's something that's always been in place, but they've uped the enforcement to get people to leave the park on time.
"Truthfully, not only have we had problems getting off of the river on time or out of the park on time, there's just been people to come in in the middle of the night and do donuts out in the parking lot and just do things they shouldn't be doing. Obviously, number one, is a safety reason, but number two, is to protect the park," Glisson said.
But parkgoers seem to believe that's not the biggest reason. Dontae Grier says he visits the park daily, and there's been word that the closure is because equipment was stolen recently.
"From other park members, they say someone stole a bunch of equipment. I don't know what was stolen, but pretty much, chainsaws, tractors," Grier said.
Parkgoers say they are the ones that feel robbed.
"I think they should do more of an investigation to get the people who did it, but don't punish everybody else behind it, you know," he said.
Glisson confirmed that something was stolen from the park, and there is currently an investigation happening.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the alleged theft.
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