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Parking tickets issued at Holy Cross Easter Mass By Jayne Gest The Dover Police Department issued several parking tickets during the 11 a.m. Easter Mass at the Church of the Holy Cross, 631 S. State St, Dover, after an overflow crowd attended the service. The church has a capacity of 800 people and the auditorium had to be opened to accommodate all the additional parishioners. Lt. Paul Bernat of the DPD said police issued five yellow curb and six fire lane parking tickets after someone reported the parking violations. Bernat, who attended the Mass, said at one point the service was stopped and anyone with an illegally parked car was asked to move it. Bernat said the church is not normally a problem area and he understands there are more attendees on Easter Sunday or Christmas. However, the police need to make sure that if there is a fire or emergency the way is clear. Torrey Leininger, who attends Holy Cross most Sundays and is a resident on East Denneys Road, said he was appalled that a policeman was giving tickets, and he’s never seen the police at the church before. “I just thought to myself, ‘This isn’t right. This is Easter Sunday,’” he said. Leininger felt that it wasn’t attendees’ fault there wasn’t enough parking with such a large crowd on the one day people come to church who wouldn’t normally go. He also was concerned there wasn’t a policeman directing the unusually large amount of traffic. Bernat said the Dover Police can’t direct traffic at just one church without offering the same service to all the churches, and the department doesn’t have the manpower for that. Maureen Raitz, copy editor, contributed to this story.
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