Promoter who defied the odds faces new problem

LAS VEGAS - Having defied bureaucrats, animal rights activists and the elements to put on a highly-publicized running of the bulls, a Phoenix promoter now finds himself entangled with the law.

Phil Immordino, 40, was to be arraigned in the tiny town of Moccasin, Ariz. on a misdemeanor charge of contracting a special event without a zoning use permit. The maximum fine is $1,000.

Immordino was arrested by Mohave County, Ariz. Sheriff's deputies Saturday afternoon, after more than 600 panting runners ran a dusty quarter-mile S-shaped course in front of, beside and behind 30 storming range bulls.

The Americanized version of Pamplona, Spain's running of the bulls was moved to a picturesque ranch on the outskirts of Mesquite, Nev. after Nevada officials balked at allowing the run on the town's main drag, a state highway.

The site is just over the state line in Arizona, and Mohave County officials had directed Immordino to obtain an events permit, which he failed to do.

Immordino said the event would just about break even financially, with crowd estimates ranging from 10,000 to 15,000. Immordino's Phoenix-based Running of the Bulls America, Inc. has a five-year contract with the Mesquite Resort Association, and current plans are for the event to be held again next year.

Mesquite Police Chief Mike Murphy said it appeared the company had lived up to its obligations.

"The last time I saw him (Immordino) prior to his arrest, he was sitting at the events table, writing out checks," Murphy said Sunday afternoon.

Immordino was issued a citation and asked to sign it, said Steve Johnson, Mohave County sheriffs office media specialist. When he refused to sign the citation, he was arrested and taken to the Mesquite City Jail.

"He wasn't belligerent or violent," Johnson said. "He just refused. We thought we were being very cooperative."

Johnson said Immordino had plenty of time and opportunities to file the correct forms and obtain the permits.

"It's not like this was a surprise for him," Johnson said. "He had the chances, but he just never filed the forms."

The citation was not issued before the event began because Immordino did not commit a crime until the bulls began to run, Johnson said. Even though the citation had nothing to do with the bulls themselves, deputies considered the run as the beginning of the unauthorized event.

Three people were injured in the bull run, Johnson said. Colorado City, Ariz. Fire Department Paramedics reported one man may have suffered broken ribs and was taken to Arcon Health Care where he was treated and released.

Two others, a man butted by a bull's horn in the back and a woman who injured her arm running for one of the escape gates, were treated by crews at the scene and released.

A total of 41 spectators were treated for exposure to the 105-degree heat.

Mesquite Mayor Ken Carter said that despite receiving a number of written protests from animal welfare advocates, the event had gone off with relatively few problems and no pickets or boycotts.

News media from as far away as Germany and Spain joined national and local reporters to cover the event.

The runners paid $50 to particpate, but many ran the second heat at a discounted rate of $20.

The runners included four men wearing masks of Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Clinton. Another runner wore a giant chicken suit.

Immordino had joked that the main concern would be that the more docile bulls would not run.

But Swede Hansen, 69, who raised the bulls, promised that would not be the case.

"They're gonna run, no doubt about it," Hansen, a former rodeo clown, said before the race. "That's just their nature."

Hansen discounted claims by animal activists that the bulls would be mistreated, noting that some of his bulls sell for $5,000 and more.

"When you've got that kind of value, it's kind of like your Cadillac, you try and take care of them."

Race promoters said the entrants came from at least a dozen states, with half of them coming from California and 25 percent from Las Vegas, 80 miles to the southwest.

The oldest runner to register was 70 and most of the early registrants were male, officials said.

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