6 Charged In Brawl That Injured 3 Hillside Cops
UPDATED 01/28/11 6:55 p.m.
HILLSIDE, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- Six people have been charged in connection with a Friday morning brawl outside a west suburban bowling alley that left three police officers injured.
Kristofer Lee, 36, of 148 N. Long in Chicago, is charged with three counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, Class 2 felonies, and one felony count of resisting arrest, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports
Podcast
Lee's wife Keisha Heard, of the same address, is charged with one count each of aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting arrest, Conklin said. And another woman, Latoya Reed of 5501 W. Washington in Chicago is charged with one count of aggravated battery to a police officer.
The officers responded to Hillside Bowl, 4545 W. Harrison St., about 2:15 a.m. Friday after the bowling alley had closed, to put a stop to a brawl that had spilled into the parking lot.
Hillside Police Chief Joe Lukaszek said the first officers on the scene "observed people swinging baseball bats at each other and fighting in the parking lot."
Lukaszek said the scene was "just complete mayhem. I mean, just complete mayhem. It was very chaotic."
As police broke up the fight and started making arrests, a mob of about 25 people rushed at the three police officers responding to the brawl.
"Our officers were struck with fists, they were scratched, eyes were poked," Lukaszek said. "It's crazy."
Four men and three women, all in their 20s or 30s, were arrested after the brawl. Six of those people were charged with various crimes Friday afternoon.
Charged with misdemeanors in the incident were Patrick Carter, 24, of Chicago, two counts of resisting arrest; D'Angela Johnson, 23, of Chicago, resisting arrest and obstructing; and Jovan McNeal, 26, of Chicago, disorderly conduct, police said.
Lee, Heard and Reed will appear for bond hearings at the Maywood courthouse on Saturday.
Police also were reviewing surveillance video from the parking lot at the bowling alley to track down more people who were involved.
Lukaszek said Lee is believed to have started the fight.
One of the officers was bitten on the nose and arms, another suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, and the third had facial bruises.
Lukaszek said nothing like this has happened to Hillside police officers for as long as he's been with the department.
"It's the first time in 20 years. The violence is getting crazy. It's getting silly," he said.
Emergency crews took the three make officers to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Hillside Fire Department Lt. Jim Flynn said.
Police also had to use Tasers on four people during the fight.
The three officers – whose time on the force ranges from seven to 20 years – were checked for broken bones, and released from the hospital Friday morning, Lukaszek said.
One of the officers underwent an MRI to check for facial fractures, but it turned out to be negative.
On Friday morning, one of the officers still had teeth marks dug into his nose and scratches across his neck and hand.
The officers said they were just happy to be alive. They showed CBS 2 their injuries, but asked to have their identities concealed.
And in spite of the battle wounds, Lukaszek said there was a happy ending for his officers.
"At the end of the day – that's the best part – they get to go home to their families," Lukaszek said.
The officers have been placed on the injured list and will need to be cleared by a doctor before returning to work, officials said. They will be out for about a week.
Longtime patrons of Hillside Bowl like Lloyd Jarrett aren't surprised at the violence that erupted there early Friday. They say it's not the first fight they've seen in the bar.
"I thought they would get better control of it, but it seems like it's just getting worse each and every day," he said.
What did surprise Jarrett and others was that the crowd eventually turned on responding officers.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
