28 Teens Arrested After 'Wilding' Mob Action Rocks Chicago

Image source: WBBM-TV

Chicago police made 28 arrests Saturday night after teenage "mob action" and so-called "wilding" disturbances rocked parts of the city.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported a "melee" erupted along the famous Magnificent Mile shopping district and that a group of women were attacked on a city transit bus.

CBS Chicago WBBM-TV reported many innocent tourists and shoppers were caught in the middle of the chaos of teenagers purposely bumping into each other and starting fights among themselves.

“You had a group of teens, close to maybe 500. They assaulted a Chicago police officer that was on a mounted on a horse and all of a sudden they assaulted a citizen walking the streets, just a normal citizen shopping and enjoying the weather,” community activist Andrew Holmes told WBBM.

Seventeen arrests -- 15 juveniles and two adult men, ages 18 and 19 -- were made near Chicago and Michigan avenues after police came across “a number of kids fighting amongst themselves” around 6 p.m., Chicago police spokeswoman Amina Greer told the Sun-Times. Those arrested were charged with reckless conduct.

In a separate incident, 10 juveniles and one adult, an 18-year-old woman, were charged with battery after police said they attacked a group of women on a bus around 6:30 p.m.

Later Saturday night, WBBM reported a man was jumped and punched in the face by a group of teens.

Much of the activity was reported to have been planned weeks ago on social media, according to the station.

“I caution those parents if their child has been arrested which numerous teenagers have been arrested tonight, that you need to think about your child. Just don’t say the Chicago police picked on your child, when we were watching all the assault going on, especially by teen women,” Holmes told WBBM.