CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Party buses in Chicago could face more restrictions after a shooting this week, which left eight people injured, prompted a North Side alderman to propose a crackdown.
Alderman Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward, is proposing that Chicago party buses stop driving at 10 p.m.
“I’m working on an ordinance right now,” Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said Thursday afternoon. “They would have to stop driving people around at 10 o’clock.”
The shooting at a Lincoln Park gas station on Wednesday happened just before midnight. Three cars pulled up in the 1600 block of North LaSalle Drive and gunmen began firing at the group of people from the party bus, Chicago police said. Eight people were injured.
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Hopkins told the Sun Times the 10 p.m. curfew makes sense because “a lot of the trouble we’ve had on party buses has occurred around midnight. This incident was like five minutes to midnight. It just seems to be a recipe for disaster when you have 36 people, lots of alcohol, potentially some narcotics as well. And as the hours go by, the likelihood of trouble increases.”
Hopkins acknowledged the City Council has imposed countless crackdowns over the years aimed at preventing party bus rides from turning violent.
That includes requiring party buses that carry at least 15 people drinking on board or making multiple bar stops to install security cameras or hire more security personnel.
But after the Wednesday night shooting, Hopkins argued that it’s time for yet another crackdown.
He said the earlier crackdowns made an impact — even during the Wednesday night shooting.
“There was a security guard present. Obviously, he wasn’t in a position to stop this incident from happening. But arguably, he prevented it from being worse than it was, because both of the vehicles that pulled in during this attack — one of them actually fled without firing a shot and the other one that fired a number of shots did it very quickly,” Hopkins said.
“It turns out that the driver of the bus was also armed. He has a concealed-carry license. And he felt that part of his role was to provide security and prevent this sort of thing from happening.”
Retiring Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Rosa Escareno said she’s not certain Chicago needs another party bus crackdown. She noted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s sweeping pandemic relief package included enhanced requirements for party bus companies.
Escareno said when problems persist, the issue generally “is not your licensed industry. It’s really been your rogue, unlicensed actors. This is really more of a criminal issue.”
Escareno’s spokesperson later told the Sun-Times the party bus involved in the Lincoln Park shooting was “licensed and insured” by the city’s department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
(WBBM Newsradio and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this copy.)
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