6 teens, 1 man facing charges after fight breaks out at Boston playground
BOSTON -- Multiple teens and one adult were arrested at a playground in Boston Friday night. A large group of people was at the Carter Playground for a football game when a fight broke out around 8 p.m.
Police said the following arrests were made:
- 16-year-old boy charged with affray
- 17-year-old boy charged with disorderly conduct
- 17-year-old boy charged with disorderly conduct
- 15-year-old girl charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest
- 15-year-old girl charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest
- 15-year-old boy charged with assault and battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest
Chiquela Howard, 37, of Weymouth, was also charged with disorderly conduct, assault and battery, assault and battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest.
It's unclear what started the fight.
The complex is owned by the city but was renovated in 2019 through an agreement with Northeastern University.
On any given afternoon you will find recreational league soccer and football games played on the turf fields and tennis matches at the nearly half-dozen courts.
Neighbors who live on the other side of Columbus Avenue said what occurred Friday night was unlike anything they had seen in the area in years.
"It was obviously pretty chaotic," said Northeastern University student Macy Paton. "Nothing like that has ever happened before."
Alex Kelley also saw the large fight from his fifth-floor apartment.
"There were a lot of sirens, a lot of yelling," said Kelley. "In the moment it seemed like something much bigger was going on."
The Boston Police Department called Friday night's incident a "large fight." Those who live nearby described the incident as an all-out brawl.
Witnesses told WBZ-TV that police were severely outnumbered as the crowd grew larger near the tennis courts.
Boston Police said their responding officers called in "all available units from the city" to attempt to control the crowd.
Police said they found a 16-year-old boy laying on the ground as the crowd dispersed, but he ran from police before they could evaluate his condition.