Police Watch For 'Wilding' Incidents In Midtown
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police flooded Times Square Sunday over concerns about violence that has historically occurred following the New York International Auto Show.
There had been no reports of violence as of early Sunday evening, but in the past, groups of teenagers in gang wear have taken to the streets, harassed pedestrians and businesses, and have even shot people.
In 2010 hundreds of young people brawled and fired guns during a 'wilding' spree in Midtown following the New York International Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Easter Sunday. Four people were shot.
The act is all part of an apparently annual ritual for gang members, including Bloods and Crips.
Assistant Commissioner Kevin O'Connor and the NYPD's Juvenile Justice Unit will be cruising Facebook and Twitter prior to the event to get the jump on any planned mayhem, according to a New York Daily News report.
The New York International Auto Show runs through Sunday, April 7.
"Wilding" incidents have been occurring elsewhere in the country in recent days, most notably in Chicago. WBBM-TV, CBS 2 has learned about multiple incidents in at least four different fashionable downtown locations on Saturday, leading to a total of 28 arrests in just one night.
In one Chicago incident, 15 juveniles and two adults were caught purposely bumping into people. A man also reported being attacked while walking in the fashionable Gold Coast district Saturday evening, and a group of women reported being attacked by a mob of girls on the Chicago Transit Authority Red Line subway.
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