Four arrested after teen fight caused chaos at Bayside Marketplace
MIAMI - A large police presence swarmed Bayfront Marketplace Monday night to get a large fight involving teens under control.
It apparently started when a group of teens set off some fireworks. That caused a panic and as the crowds dispersed it disrupted businesses and drivers in the area.
Ryan Landy, who was in his apartment on the 26th floor overlooking Bayside, said initially it seemed like someone had fired shots, or set off fireworks, in a crowd.
"We were just watching a movie with the door open because it was really nice out. We heard a lot of successive shots or pops, I don't want to say exactly for sure right after new years, it could have been fireworks, I'm not sure. So we go out there and there were just tons of people running. Immediately, not long after that, police cars were showing up, super loud, there were about ten of them and an ambulance," he said.
Landy said just as he thought things were beginning to calm down that's when he heard more sirens.
"There's a big crowd of people running outside of Bayside and then we hear a commotion and now they're just running through the streets, running between cars, almost getting hit by cars, it was absolute chaos," he said.
Miami police said juveniles armed with sticks were in some kind of fight and officers had to move in for crowd control. When they did, the teens scattered in different directions, according to witnesses.
Authorities had closed some lanes on Biscayne Boulevard, between 2nd and 4th Streets due to the "large crowd of unruly juveniles."
Police noted that a group of people went inside the stores and caused damage. Several businesses closed down for the night.
Police reported a driver had been beaten by a group of about 15 of the teens. The man said he went out to see who threw a bottle at his car and that's when he was jumped. He said they stole his phone from inside the car.
Police say four teens, who were part of the larger group at Bayside, have been arrested. Two have been charged with burglary, grand theft, battery, and resisting arrest without violence. The other two were charged with resisting an officer without violence.
