Officers working at a street dance in Tappen had to break up about 18 fights, the Kidder County Sheriff says.

Sheriff Doug Howard said he hired two off-duty officers to work at the street dance Sunday night, but that wasn't enough to stop the fights.

"I ended up calling other agencies to help them," he said. "We don't pay them enough to get hurt."

Sheriff's Deputy John Lemieux, who worked at the dance, said most of the fights seemed to start when people were drinking too much alcohol and "getting tough."

"They're not used to law enforcement telling them what to do," Howard said. He said most of the people seemed to want to settle their differences "the old fashioned way."

Lemieux said there were no injuries from the fights, because officers were able to stop them quickly before they got out of hand.

Howard said three people were arrested and more people probably would have been if he had somewhere to house them. Kidder County does not have a jail, so Howard transports inmates to Bismarck, Mandan, Jamestown or Valley City, he said.

No one has been charged yet in connection to the fights, and Howard said the incidents are still under investigation.

Howard said the Tappen City Council approved having Bis-Man Security work at the demolition derby before the dance.

Next year, Howard said he plans to have a minimum of six officers working the demolition derby and the dance.

Howard and Lemieux are the only officers in the Kidder County Sheriff's Department.

- Jenny Michael