Two Chicago police officers were injured overnight when a large fight broke out on the Halsted Street bar strip in Boystown. Officers at the scene repeatedly called for more help as dispatchers tried to secure resources from other police districts during a 20-minute melee that one cop said involved about 75 people.
The fights broke out hours after the annual Pride Fest street party wrapped up. Similar altercations have been reported following previous Pride Fests and the Chicago Pride Parade.
Officers from the Lakeview-based Town Hall (19th) District sounded overwhelmed and understaffed as they called for more cars and twice declared “10-1” police emergencies on the 3300 block of North Halsted between 2:45 a.m. and 3 a.m.
“Huge fight on Halsted and Roscoe,” an officer said as the fights began. “We need help over here…We need some cars now!”
“We got about 75 people going crazy out here.”
“Ask other districts to send cars here. This is absolutely wild.”
More than two minutes later, an update: “They’re going crazy, squad. We need cars!”
Here is a recording of the police radio activity:
A sergeant eventually told responding cars to slow down as officers thought they were getting a handle on the situation. That didn’t last long.
Police declared a second “10-1” shortly before 3 a.m. at the intersection of Halsted and Buckingham streets:
“We need more [police officers] here,” one cop says. A dispatcher assures him that they are trying to find help from other districts.
“Keep sending ’em squad. Keep sending ’em.”
A supervisor at the scene slowed down the police response shortly after 3 a.m, saying the situation was better but there were “still pockets of fighting.”
Bottles were being thrown several minutes after that, an officer said.
Police units that came from other districts were sent back to their usual patrol areas around 3:20 a.m. CPD asked dispatchers to send the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation to clean up the mess.
According to a CPD statement, a male officer suffered an injury to his back while trying to arrest someone during the fights. He was listed in fair condition, the statement said.
Another officer suffered injuries to both knees and their lip. They were not hospitalized.
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