Charges are pending against a man who allegedly slashed another man’s face with a knife during a fight on the Riverwalk downtown Sunday evening, police said.
The men began arguing around 7:30 p.m. on a plaza near the Vietnam Veterans Fountain, 35 East Wacker, and one of them pulled out a knife, according to police and witnesses. He then cut the other man, police said. CPD surveillance cameras recorded the entire altercation, an officer said.
One man gave photojournalist David Jank a “thumbs up” as he was being wheeled to an ambulance with his face wrapped in bandages.
Thumbs up! Riverwalk/Wabash stabbing incident. #chicagoscanner pic.twitter.com/fzEKyTPZSU
— jank.photo (@jank5) May 3, 2021
Both the victim, age 29, and the alleged offender were treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but police did not elaborate on the suspect’s injuries.
A couple of hours later, the Loop area was flooded with a large group of teenagers and young adults for the second night in a row.
“Chicago has laws on the books. CPD has enforcement guidelines,” Ald. Raymond Lopez said in a tweet Monday morning that was accompanied by images of the police department’s curfew enforcement directive. “Politicians lack the will to enforce,” Lopez continued.
Beginning around 9 p.m. Sunday, police and witnesses reported seeing a group of about 100 teens running in the streets and fighting along Wabash, State, Washington, and other nearby streets. Some reports indicated that members of the group were battering passers-by. At least one juvenile was arrested. Another person is in custody after police allegedly saw him try to steal a car near Wacker and Wabash, according to a CPD report.
Similar incidents were reported in the same area beginning around 8 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses and police reported widespread incidents of teens throwing objects at passers-by and restaurant patrons, lighting fireworks, and running in the streets. At other times, cops reported the teens were throwing bottles at them.
Five juveniles are known to have been detained Saturday.
Yet another wave of teens overran parts of the Loop on Tuesday evening. Officers reported some members of that group, estimated to be 150 to 200-people strong, threw bottles at their squad car and fought on the streets and inside some businesses.
One officer described an individual who repeatedly threw bottles at CPD cars as “about four feet tall. Looks like he’s about 8” years old.
