A group of teenagers ran wild Saturday evening in the Loop, attacking people who were enjoying a night of holiday fun.
One woman said the teens hit her in the face with a bottle for no reason. And an EMS crew took a man to the hospital for treatment after eight youths battered and robbed him on the street. It all played out in about 20 minutes, witnesses said. No arrests have been made.
A patrol officer reported the first signs of trouble at 7:45 p.m. when he asked for back-up to help with a large group of kids fighting at Michigan and Madison near the Millennium Park Christmas tree.
Three victims told that officer that the teens had jumped them without warning outside a nearby Panera Bread.
The brawling group broke into smaller parts and fled through the Loop, with a large contingent running northbound toward the Chicago River.
About ten minutes later, a group of eight teenage offenders attacked a 39-year-old man as he walked with his wife on the first block of East Lake Street, CPD spokesperson Karie James said.
The teens pushed the man down, then hit and kicked him before they robbed him of personal belongings and fled westbound toward State Street, police said. The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with cuts to his face and knees, James said.
Moments after that, a woman reported that a teenage boy hit her in the face with a bottle as she walked with a group of friends near Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.
Also around 8 p.m., a woman in her 50’s told police that a group of teenagers who appeared 16- or 17-years-old attacked her near the McDonald’s at 119 North Wabash.
Police searched the downtown area with the robbery victim’s wife and with other victims, but none of the offenders were found.