Owner: Car set afire by Smith camp

Hester says that supporters of Mayor Smith had been trying to discredit his business since he hosted a pre-election rally for Ockomon that attracted 4,000 people to Bounce City. Ockomon mentioned Bounce City at political debates before the election and called the business a great job creator. On KrisOckomon.com, there are pictures of Hester and Ockomon at a Bounce City event.

When asked about Hester’s claims against Smith’s supporters, Ockomon said, “I don’t know that guy that well, and I don’t have any comment.”

The cavernous former Kmart is partly filled with giant inflatable structures. The names of former merchandise departments (for example, “housewares”) are painted on the walls. One drywall surface is pocked with holes from baseballs being thrown through it. There are dodge-ball areas, and a football field is painted on the floor among structural columns. On the back wall, “Kris Ockomon — our mayor” is painted in blue letters.

According to Hester, Smith supporters stole a car from Fort Wayne and set it afire behind Bounce City. Hester showed a reporter the spot behind the building where the car allegedly burned. There are burn marks on the ground and broken auto glass, but the building does not appear to have been damaged. Hester said that, before the car was burned, a man approached him and told him that it would be “so easy” to steal a car from Fort Wayne and torch it behind Bounce City. Hester described the man as a Smith supporter.

An arson investigator from the Anderson fire department couldn’t be reached to confirm the incident.

Complaint filed over breast-feeding

A woman says she was kicked out of Bounce City on Nov. 3 for breast-feeding her infant daughter. Heather Wilson, who lives in Ohio but owns a house and has family in Anderson, said she was at Bounce City with her children and her sister’s children when the incident happened.

Wilson says that, after she started feeding her infant, Michelle Hester approached her and put a “dirty” towel over her chest. Wilson says she has filed a complaint with the state Civil Rights Commission.

Commission spokesperson DaMica O’Bryant said this week that no official complaint had been filed against Bounce City. “If they haven’t formalized their complaint, then we wouldn’t have a record of it,” said O’Bryant.

According to Indiana Code 16-35-6-1, breast-feeding is allowed “anywhere the woman has the right to be.”

Wilson says she went back to Bounce City to complain the next day and was called a “retard” by Michelle Hester.

“She was finished (breast-feeding), and she wouldn’t cover up!” said Michelle Hester. “We have no issues with breast-feeding.”