PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A police officer was injured and five people were arrested after hundreds of teenagers gathered and caused disturbances near City Hall on Wednesday night.
Starting around 8 p.m., a group of about 400 teens making their way west on Market Street flooded the area of the Fashion District at 10th Street and continued over to City Hall and Dilworth Park, police said.
Witnesses say they saw some of the teens climbing traffic light poles and others throwing rocks at the police officers who responded to the scene.
Officials did not say how this was organized or if word spread on social media.
Four of the teenagers were arrested, said Inspector Raymond Evers in a briefing at Philadelphia Police Department headquarters Thursday afternoon: a 13-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy. All four were issued disorderly conduct citations.
Evers said the 13-year-old boy, whom officers chased down, had a fake gun that looked real. There could really have been a bad outcome if a person with a real gun had encountered this teenager with a fake gun, Evers noted.
One officer significantly injured his knee during a foot pursuit, when an individual tried to free the 13-year-old girl in custody, Evers said.
"The officer was preparing the paperwork for disorderly conduct arrest. During that arrest, one of her friends tried to release her from the rear of the police vehicle. That officer got in full pursuit of that individual, and during the foot pursuit, he blew out his knee,” Evers said. “That officer is going to be out of work for eight months to a year because he has to get a full knee reconstruction."
As of now, no other injuries or property damage have been reported.
There was a fifth arrest, of a separate person who fit the description of a suspect from a robbery Tuesday night at Second and Chestnut streets.
Evers said police will be beefing up patrols in the area of 10th and Market streets in the nights to come, starting Thursday.
Evers said it’s not unusual to have large groups of teens in the area, because it's safe.
“It's safe for them to kind of go to the movie theater, because there is police down there. Their parents go, ‘Hey, it's safe, because we know cops are on Market Street.’ But when you go from 30 to 40 to 400 — and they start acting the fool — that's when we have our issues, and we're going to act accordingly.”
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In a statement, Mayor Jim Kenney described the group as “destructive and disruptive.” He said the behavior would not be tolerated and thanked police for responding.
“I’m saddened when young people engage in behavior that endangers themselves and others, especially because it is not representative of the majority of our city's youth, who are positively engaged in their communities. We all must work together to support our young people.”
Evers said the parents of teenagers need to step up and know where their kids are.
"We have 170 rec centers in the city. We have 26 PAL centers in the city. And we have numerous sports leagues and church groups throughout the city. This is what the kids should be doing,” Evers said.
“This is a parental issue. This is not a police issue. This is not a city issue. Parents should be watching their kids."
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