Police confront crowds of teens on two consecutive nights in Dilworth Park
Police arrested three and cited seven Sunday evening in Dilworth Park.
Confrontations between large groups of teenagers and Philadelphia police made for a tense scene in Dilworth Park outside City Hall over the holiday weekend and led to at least three arrests.
On Sunday, Philadelphia police issued seven citations for disorderly conduct, a spokesperson said. In addition, three people were arrested, one for robbery, another for disorderly conduct, and a third for violating gun laws.
In addition, an Inquirer reporter observed police detaining several young people on Monday evening as police sought to keep teens from reconvening inside the park. In one of the incidents, an officer appeared to sustain a bloody nose while tackling a young woman.
Philadelphia police spokesperson Corporal Jasmine Colón-Reilly said she did not have information about what led police to respond to the scene Sunday, nor the extent of any injuries. She said she did not have information about the Monday evening incident.
Videos shared on Instagram appear to show a hundred or more young people gathered in the park on Sunday, before police rush into the park to detain a person. In one of those incidents, a young man appeared to be assaulted by others in the crowd. Another video showed an apparently injured person collapse in the street. It was not clear from the videos whether the person was part of the crowd.
