A pop-up fireworks shop in the Crystal Palace parking lot last week expected a boom during the Independence Day holiday but got busted instead.
Acting on a call, detectives with the Memphis Police Department’s (MPD) Organized Crime Unit cruised to the former South Memphis skating rink (and shooting location for Hustle and Flow) on Thursday.
They found two men — Robert Cobb, 23, and Daniel Betts, 23 — unloading a U-Haul stacked with fireworks with visible price tags. The two were detained and questioned. One admitted to purchasing the fireworks in Illinois and selling them at the location.
With help from MPD’s TACT unit — the elite SWAT and tactical team — the fireworks were confiscated.
Cobb and Betts were issued misdemeanor citations for:
• Unlawful Acts in the Sale and Handling of Fireworks
• Unlawful to Place, Store, and Display Fireworks Under Sunlight
“The Memphis Police Department reminds the public that the illegal sale of fireworks is prohibited and encourages residents to report suspected violations to help keep our community safe,” MPD said in a statement.
