Aug 31, 2009 5:21 pm US/Central
Uptown Violence In Broad Daylight Caught On Tape
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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A home video captured a street fight in Uptown in broad daylight.
Home Video
There's new video of street fighting in Uptown. This time, it happened during the day. And, as CBS 2's Jim Williams reports, innocent people were caught in the middle.
Earlier this month, we saw nighttime video of massive fights in Uptown. Now we see just how brazen these young men were last Friday near a busy intersection, close to an 'L' station, with children on the street.
This fight happened in the same area: Sheridan Road just south of Lawrence. But this skirmish was under a bright 5 p.m. sun.
A home video camera captured two groups of young men moving down the street, yelling profanity-laced threats at one another, a few punches thrown. The man who shot the video says police arrived within seconds.
But it appears a family was caught in the middle, frozen, it seems, in fear. Residents in Uptown are disgusted.
"You got babies out here. Look around. You got innocent people. We shouldn't be bothered with that," said Uptown resident Rod Jones.
Residents have been bothered repeatedly in recent weeks by what some believe are gang fights right in the street.
"The situation is escalating," said Uptown resident Louie Miller.
Friday's fight happened in front of the Chicago Uptown Ministry, a longtime social service organization. Executive director Emily Jackson did not see the fight when it happened, but watched the video.
"To me, it's a reminder that we do need to work together," Jackson said.
Some residents complain that Alderman Helen Shiller has not been responsive to their complaints.
Jackson says the entire neighborhood has to try to stop this violence.
"It's not one person's responsibility," Jackson said. "It's not one organization that can fix it."
Louie Miller, who's lived in Uptown for 10 years, believes attention generated by the home video cameras is putting necessary pressure on the city.
"More attention is better. And more people who have video cameras. We've got some really nice condo buildings going up around here and they're not standing for it anymore," Miller said.
Rod Jones and Michael Shepard, gang members long ago, now in their early 50s, have offered to share lessons from their own lives.
"Everybody wants to just blame them, but see, we need to get out here and talk to these guys," Shepard said. "And let them know, look, there's too many innocent people out here, too much violence."
Jones and Shepard promise the next time they see the makings of a fight, they will get right between the two groups and make a plea for them to cool down.
Chicago Police say about 20 young men were involved in Friday's fight. One was charged with reckless conduct. Police say there were no big fights in Uptown over the weekend.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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