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Jul 16, 2007 7:51 am US/Central
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Teen In Coma After Melee At Durkin Park
Another Teen Plowed Car Through Crowd, Searching For Sister
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
A juvenile was in custody Sunday, and seven people were injured after a melee at Durkin Park in Chicago's Scottsdale neighborhood Saturday night.
Police said it was unclear what caused the fight or why a teen drove into a crowd assembled at the park at 8445 S. Kolin Avenue.
On Saturday night, six people were listed in serious to critical condition and one was listed in serious condition, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Richard Rosado said. They were taken to area hospitals.
Among them, a 16-year-old boy was in critical condition in a coma Sunday at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Police said a teenager was involved in an altercation and called for reinforcements. Teens arrived in separate vehicles. The fight escalated.
"We don't know how it originated. It just grew and grew," Chicago police spokesman John Henry said.
Neighbors said they saw teens running to the park with 4-foot pieces of lumber and called police.
They said it was at least 20 minutes before Chicago police arrived at the scene.
"I called police and told them there were kids in the park with weapons," said a man who asked not to be identified.
He said he called police again a short time later after he and another person thought they heard gunshots and screaming.
"We could see 30 kids running from the east to west side of the park," the man said.
Chicago Ald. Lona Lane (18th) said she planned to attend a Scottsdale Homeowners Association meeting Wednesday at St. Bede the Venerable Church.
"We aren't going to tolerate this," she said. "We'll get more lights and cameras if we need them."
A teen who told police he was searching for his sister, whom he feared was being attacked by the crowd, drove a vehicle into the crowd, striking others, a Wentworth Area detective said Sunday. The driver was ticketed for traffic violations.
Police said one juvenile was charged in connection with the fight.
Garry Flavin, whose 17- and 14-year-old sons suffered head injuries and other wounds after the vehicle drove into the crowd, said his sons are friends of the boy who was beaten up.
His sons went to the scene after they heard their friend had been hurt, Flavin said.
"They were standing around, and the car plowed into the crowd," Flavin said. "They were just witnesses -- innocent bystanders."
After striking the crowd, the vehicle hit a parked car, Flavin said.
Meanwhile, at the police's Wentworth Area headquarters, detectives had the difficult task of ironing out the details of exactly how the fight started, who started it and why.
"We know it started with two guys, that's the only thing we're certain of right now," a police source said.
The source confirmed that one of the initial two combatants called for reinforcements. Once the reinforcements arrived, police said, the teen may have pointed out the wrong person as the person with whom he fought
Flavin said he has heard of skirmishes in the neighborhood, but they have been minor.
"I have two teenage boys, and they have never had a problem," Flavin said. "It's nothing to this magnitude."
Police also estimated the number of people fighting was much smaller than reported by witnesses, with the bulk of the crowd likely made up of bystanders.
The man who didn't want to be identified said he and others had seen cars full of strangers driving down their block, increased gang graffiti in the park and kids in the park flashing gang signs.
"We're not surprised it came to this," he said.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)