8 juveniles arrested, 24 issued curfew violations after large teen gathering in Loop

Eight juveniles were arrested and two dozen others were issued curfew violations during a large teen gathering in the Loop Wednesday night, according to police.

The gathering, about 9:30 p.m., could be seen at times across multiple business streets, including State, Randolph and Wabash, with videos posted to social media showing a heavy police presence with multiple Chicago Police Department vehicles and officers on bikes.

Videos obtained by NBC Chicago also showed at least one person being loaded into an ambulance and some fighting as they were placed into the backs of police vans.

According to CPD, a total of seven juveniles were arrested during the gathering, including a 13-year-old female, a 14-year-old female, a 15-year-old female, a 15-year-old male, a 16-year-old female and two 16-year-old males.

Each were charged with reckless conduct, police said, with the 15-year-old male also having an issuance of a warrant.

One of the 16-year-old males was also charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer, and a citation for riding a bike on a sidewalk.

In total, 24 curfew violation citations were also issued, police said.

The gathering comes months after a Chicago alderman proposed an ordinance to hold social media companies accountable for “teen takeover” events that have turned violent in the past, including when a 14-year-old was killed and eight others shot hours after the city’s annual tree lighting ceremony.

In a post on X at 10:48 p.m., 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins said the crowd was partially disbursed by 10:40 p.m., but was “out of control” an hour prior.

“But then at 10:00pm, an order was issued for curfew enforcement,” Hopkins wrote. “It had an immediate impact on this violent teen trend. Curfew enforcement is effective.”

No additional information was immediately available.