CHICAGO (WLS) — Five Chicago police officers were struck by a driver while dispersing a “teen takeover” early Sunday, officials said.
At this point, it’s not clear whether the driver that hit the officers was connected to the teen gathering, which Alderman Jason Ervin said was not a traditional “teen-takeover” type event like has been seen elsewhere around the city, but rather an after-prom party that got out of hand.
Meanwhile, Ald. Jim Gardiner said police were addressing a so-called “teen takeover.”
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The incident happened at about 3:20 a.m. in the 1200 block of South Loomis Street, Chicago police said.
Authorities said three officers remained hospitalized Sunday afternoon after an 18-year-old man drove into them last night as they worked crowd control during what is being described as an out-of-control after-prom gathering connected to the Brooks Homes near Roosevelt and Loomis on the Near West Side. Cell phone video showing the immediate aftermath.
CPD officers were on foot dispersing a large gathering when they were struck by a driver in a blue car heading westbound in the eastbound lane, police said.
“Normally we do not have problems in the Brooks Homes for Memorial Day, and so this caught a lot of people off-guard, what transpired last night,” Ald. Ervin said. “Hopefully the officers recover fully and be able to get back to work.”
Cell phone video showed the sea of flashing lights in a massive police presence that built in the aftermath of the officers getting struck. Police said the injured officers, five in all, were on foot dispersing the teens when a blue sedan traveling westbound in an eastbound lane struck them, drove over the curb, finally coming to a stop after striking a CPD squad, a pole and a fence.
Nearby resident Marcellous Johnson took a picture of the offender’s vehicle.
“He wasn’t going super fast, but he was going fast enough that when he hit them, he basically knocked them off their car and they rolled over to the ground and some other stuff,” Johnson said.
Johnson, who lives right at the corner, said the gathering started to build right after midnight, growing with each passing hour. Video posted to the Citizen app showed the crowd.
“I walked downstairs and I’m looking on the next block. And it’s literally hundreds of teenagers, ranging from like 14 to maybe 19-20. And they’re all here just hanging,” Johnson said. “The police are steadily coming. They were lining up the cars all right here and they just kept coming. They kept coming. More teens were showing up and more police were showing up. “
Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke out Sunday.
“The accountability mechanism cannot just be with teenager,” Mayor Johnson said. “I know where my son was at 3 a.m. after he went to prom and came home, and we need parents to ensure our children are coming home.”
The 18-year-old man driving the car was not injured and was taken into custody, officials said. CPD said they found a gun in the car.
All five officers were initially taken to local hospitals and were expected to be okay.
Charges are pending.
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About 30 minutes later, a 19-year-old man was shot in the 1100-Block of West Roosevelt Road, police said.
Chicago police did not say if the shooting was related to the large gathering.
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