Since a video of the incident went viral, Denver residents have gifted the eleven-year-old with three complete skateboards, a deck, skate shoes and a pair of shorts, says Charleston's mother, Stacia Davidson. A group of parents and students from Charleston's former elementary school also got him a gift card to a skate shop, she adds, and multiple individuals have donated money to help pay for future skating equipment and endeavors.
"I'm speechless to see how many people care," Stacia says. "Charleston is doing great, and that's because so many people have uplifted him, reached out to him and kept him positive. ... That's made him even more eager to keep doing what he's doing, to keep skating and progressing."
The team behind the popular Instagram account Foos From Denver is hosting a private event Friday evening to celebrate Charleston and the local skating community. The event organizers invited those who reached out to help Charleston after they saw the viral video, which Foos From Denver reposted on their account.
"We’ve had an overwhelming response of people wanting to help and buy a new board for him," says Benny Frank, founder of Foos From Denver. "[The video] was a call to action for our team to enact a community outreach event. ... We’ve been trying to figure out a way to show our appreciation and what [the skate park community] brings to Denver's urban culture."
The incident happened on June 28 in Shoemaker Plaza at Denver's Confluence Park. An adult woman asked a group of young boys to stop skateboarding because it was "upsetting" her, though there are no signs prohibiting skateboarding in the area, according to the police incident report. The woman claimed "a skateboard went near" her head, which prompted her to take Charleston's board and throw it into the water. Charleston was not involved in the interaction, but his board was sitting on the ground nearby.
A video shows that the woman went on to physically attack the skateboarders. She is seen chasing, shoving and cursing at the teens and children, and trying to take skateboards and a phone from multiple people.
After one young boy told her to "look how you made this kid feel," pointing to a crying Charleston, she pushed the boy, pulled him by the shirt and appeared to swing her fist at his head.
Charleston called the experience "traumatizing."
"I'm going to remember that for the rest of my life," Charleston told Westword. "That board was really expensive, and my mom worked really hard for that."
Stacia says the community response has helped to keep Charleston's spirits up and his passion for skating alive. "It makes me feel protected, in a sense," she says.
Charleston started skating at four years old and began competing last summer. He has placed top three in all but one competition he's entered, Stacia says, even earning third place in his age group for street skating during his first national contest in January.
Grant Aaron and Dylan Steerman, owners of the skate shoe repair product Sneakercrete, gave Charleston a new deck after they saw the video of the incident. After dropping off the deck, Aaron stayed to skate with Charleston, whose usual skate buddy was away at camp at the time, Stacia says.
"We know what it’s like to be young and not have the income to purchase another deck right away — or have to ask your mom to buy another unexpectedly," Aaron and Steerman says in a statement. "This woman’s behavior was unhinged and unacceptable. As small business owners who are active in the skate community ourselves, this was a moment we couldn’t just stand by and watch go down without taking some sort of action.”
The woman who threw Charleston's skateboard into the river paid Stacia back for the nearly $300 board, Stacia says. But more consequences could be coming her way.
Criminal Charges?
Allison Parkins, the mother of one of the other boys involved in the altercation, says she is looking into pressing criminal charges against the woman.No citations or arrests have been issued as of Friday, July 12, for the woman, identified as Teresa Romansky, according to the Denver Police Department. But Parkins says she contacted the police and is waiting on the next steps.
"My son tells me he is used to being called out by 'super citizens,' aka skater haters, but this was a violent attack, and something altogether different and extreme," Parkins says. “I feel like she got away with something that other people may not have because she was a white woman and looked clean-cut. Imagine her race and/or gender were changed. Karen types always get a pass."
Parkins's thirteen-year-old son is one of the boys the woman is seen chasing in the video. It shows the teen confronting her for throwing Charleston's skateboard into the river, at which point the woman runs toward him and screams, "Get the fuck out of here!" He lifts his skateboard and thrusts it at the charging woman, but when he retreats, the woman sprints after him and another boy, yelling, "You want to see what I can fucking do?"
Officers responded to the incident after the woman called the police. According to DPD spokesperson Jay Casillas, they "came to an agreement that did not require further police involvement," noting that they spoke to Stacia on the phone. But Stacia says the police only told her about the skateboard being thrown into the water, not the woman's subsequent attack.
A police officer watched the video of the attack while on the scene, Casillas says, but since the woman offered to replace the skateboard she threw in the river, "officers facilitated the exchange of information so that could be handled as a civil matter." He did not respond to Westword's inquiry about why no action was taken regarding the woman's physical force against the other minors, or whether their parents were contacted.
Witnesses who intervened during the altercation told Westword the woman seemed "obviously intoxicated" and that the situation had largely de-escalated by the time police arrived.
Stacia says she does not plan to press charges against the woman, who has not responded to Westword's request for comment.
"I feel like public humiliation is just as good," Stacia says. "She should have left with criminal charges; she shouldn't have been free to go. There was harassment, assault, littering, disturbing the peace, public intoxication. And they just let her go. But public humiliation is just as good."
The video of the altercation has amassed over 40,000 views on the original post and 160,000 views from Foos From Denver's repost as of Friday.
The experience has left Stacia concerned about her son's safety while skateboarding, but she's determined to continue supporting his love of the sport.
"If he goes back to the Platte River, I will be in attendance," she says. "He's so passionate about skating. I want him to keep on excelling at it. Hopefully, no other person like this lady will be able to discourage him from what he likes to do."
