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| The blue lights of police bike units shadow a large group of teens on Wacker Drive last night. | Provided |
Thirty-five juveniles and at least three adults in their late teens were arrested as another night of “large group activity” overtook the downtown area on Wednesday, according to multiple Chicago Police Department sources. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct while a handful was facing battery, criminal damage to property, and shoplifting charges, the sources said.
By early evening, a CPD deputy chief closed the department’s central detention facility to adult arrests so it could handle the influx of juvenile detainees, according to a source with knowledge of the night’s operations.
Police estimated that as many as 500 juveniles began arriving in the Magnificent Mile and Millennium Park areas around 5 p.m. Large groups of teens were shadowed by officers on bikes for hours. Fighting was reported from time to time in downtown subway stations with the Chicago-State and Lake Street Red Line stations seeing the most trouble.
• Three juvenile females were arrested in the Loop in connection with a theft that was reported on Monday
• One teen was arrested for possession of a Taser
• Multiple juvenile arrests at the Chicago-State Red Line for battery
• Two male and one female teens are being sought for a robbery at 79 West Monroe around 7:30 p.m.
• Another man reported being attacked by a group of “kids” near Garland Court and Lake Street at 7:40 p.m.
Wednesday’s incidents follow a smaller-scale incident in the Loop on Sunday that saw at least two juveniles arrested and a large-scale incident on April 6th that resulted in 21 arrests.
Fox32 video shows one arrest and large group moving through the plaza at Michigan Avenue and East South Water Street
#BREAKING: Large group of teens triggers massive police response in downtown Chicago. MORE: https://t.co/OVq1b6na52 pic.twitter.com/VWpEyy0yUq— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) April 18, 2019
