Officers break up mob of unruly teens, young adults near Euclid church festival

EUCLID, Ohio (WJW) – A mob of unruly teenagers and young adults caused chaos near a church festival this weekend.

“They had me afraid that I couldn’t leave my place,” said Dawna Blount, owner of Gram Gram’s Soulfood. “At one time, there had to be almost 500 children out here starting fights and jumping on cars.”

It started Friday night when the teens began showing up at the 14th annual Ss. Robert and William Church Festival on E. 260th Street in Euclid.

The family-friendly event is a fundraiser and usually peaceful.

“Our primary purpose is to invite lots of people from the community just to have a great time with good food, good music and good beverage,” said Pastor Fr. John Betters.

He says the teens began fighting near the playground and things escalated along nearby streets, but Euclid police had a safety plan.

Extra officers working security sprang into action and additional officers responded to break up the crowd.

Police Chief Scott Meyer says additional security measures were added for Saturday night so that the festival could continue, including gating off the property.

“We instituted with the church a plan where juveniles would have to be accompanied by an adult,” said Chief Meyer.

But a massive crowd of teens once again returned to Euclid. Unable to enter the festival, they once again wreaked havoc on the neighborhood.

“They weren’t listening. I begged and pleaded for them to leave,” said Dawna Blount.

Again, officers responded, but Chief Meyer says the teens wouldn’t respond to commands and continued to fight, block traffic and jump on vehicles.

They became to disorderly and officers were forced to deploy pepper spray.

“It mists up and gets the crowd moving and over time they dispersed and left the area,” said Chief Meyer.

Fortunately, no one was injured and they finally left without further incident.

“The public was appreciative. We got numerous emails and phone calls from folks happy the police handled it professionally with restraint,” said Chief Meyer.

Teens disrupting festivals has become a growing problem, he says.

Their plans they had in place helped them manage the situation, but they’re already looking for ways to prevent the disruptions for next year.

This kind of disruptive, aggressive behavior can’t be tolerated, Chief Meyer says, because it ties up officers needed for other emergencies.

“It’s just not fair to law-abiding citizens,” he said.

“I received word from the mayor and police chief that they’re going to work with me to make sure we have this festival for many years to come,” said Fr. Betters.

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