Police give conflicting accounts over what happened at the Fashion District when hundreds of teens gathered - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Four teenagers were issued citations as a result of the Wednesday night incident involving several hundred young people at the Fashion District mall in Center City, police said Thursday — but police officials offered dramatically contrasting versions of the level of disorder and whether rocks were thrown at cops.

Police Inspector Raymond Evers said at an afternoon briefing that some teens in the crowd hurled rocks at officers, climbed poles, and jumped on police cruisers. “The kids were being disorderly,” he said.

Hours earlier, however, department spokesperson Cpl. Jasmine Reilly said that wasn’t the case, adding that no property damage had occurred. She said the incident reports contained no mention of Evers’ allegations.

When asked about the conflicting accounts, Evers said, “It’s all true.” He told Reilly his information came from “someone at the scene.”

But, Reilly said: ”It’s not in the report.”

Asked if he would release body camera footage showing objects being thrown, Evers said he would review the footage and alert reporters if he saw anything “juicy.”

A police officer suffered a knee injury chasing after a suspect, police said, but no other injuries were reported.

Still, the evening was chaotic at times, police said, and a 13-year-old boy was among those cited for carrying what turned out to be an airsoft gun, and three other teenagers were cited for disorderly conduct.

Police noticed an influx of young people into the area of the Fashion District around 6 p.m., Evers said, and officers from the department and the Center City District dispersed them. But as time went on, the crowds swelled.

By 7:30 p.m., Reilly said it had grown to a few hundred teens. Police activated Rapid Response Teams to send additional officers to the area just before 8 p.m.

Evers said that as police attempted to write a disorderly conduct citation for a 13-year-old girl, one of her friends attempted to free her from the back of the police cruiser. One of the officers then chased after the teen and in the process, “blew out his knee,” Evers said. He was transported to a hospital and reported in stable condition.

In a tweet Wednesday night, Mayor Jim Kenney had described the crowd as “destructive.” However, the police reports made no mention of destruction, according to Reilly. Kenney issued a statement on Thursday saying “disruptive behavior is not acceptable.” He did not use the term “destructive.”

The crowd was under control by 8:25 p.m., Reilly said, and the teens had mostly left by 9 p.m. Reilly said the Police Department would increase patrols in the area through the rest of the week.

The Rev. Carl Day, a North Philadelphia pastor who mentors young people, said he was glad to hear that no property was damaged. He said community and city leaders need to help young people understand that, with the current climate of violence in the city, large, disorganized gatherings do pose a risk. All it takes is one confrontation for circumstances to escalate, he said.

“Kids are just seeking a thrill,” he said. “But they need to understand the perspective of the police, the danger it can bring.”

But he cautioned against the instinct to vilify kids for gathering. The Fashion District, formerly known as the Gallery, has long been known as a popular spot for young people to walk around and meet up with friends.

While there are a lot of community programs, there’s not many spaces for kids to just be kids and hang out away from their parents, show off an outfit, and flirt with each other, Day said, adding that gathering, hanging out, and being downtown isn’t a crime.

“The problem is the purpose behind it,” he said. “We ought to prepare ourselves to provide parameters and guidance to these youth and set up a dialogue.”

After the shops opened on Thursday, people trickled into the mall from the unusually warm streets. Several store owners and managers, who declined to speak on the record, said this wasn’t the first time that they’d seen or heard of disorderly groups of young people gathering in or around the mall. However, they said they were not concerned for their safety.

Around 5:30 p.m., several bike police officers were stationed at the main entrances at Ninth and 10th and Market Streets, along with security guards, while one or two security guards stood at other doors. A few unmanned doors were locked.

No one appeared to be denied entrance, although Fashion District Philadelphia said it hoped to soon require people under 18 to be accompanied by adults from 2 p.m. onward.

”We are very disappointed by the actions of some of our Philadelphia youth that continue to cause stress in Center City,” general manager Ryan Williams said Thursday in a statement. “We have a solid security plan in place, however, cannot speak to details in order to preserve effectiveness.”

Marcía Hopkins, director of youth advocacy at the Juvenile Law Center, said she was not surprised to learn about the incident. Things like this happen sometimes simply because “they’re bored,” she said. Hopkins cautioned against reacting to Wednesday’s events by increasing security, or imposing ID requirements.

“I don’t actually think it will solve anything. I think that what it’s gonna do is criminalize people more who don’t have identification or who look young,” she said. “To be honest, it, it reminds me of things like stop-and-frisk.”

Staff writers Erin McCarthy, Beatrice Forman, Sean Collins Walsh, and Nate File contributed to this article.

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