Naperville police called in to break up 150-person mob filling Main and Jackson downtown Saturday night
Several police officers were dispatched to downtown Naperville Saturday night after a large crowd of about 150 people filled the sidewalks and streets, police said.
The incident occurred about 10:20 p.m. in the area of Jackson Avenue and Main Street, with mostly teens and young adults loitering or wandering around the area, police Cmdr. Michaus Williams said.
Citations were issued to an unknown number of pedestrians who were in the streets and one man arrested after he allegedly tried to flee from being issued a ticket, Williams said.
Rueben Christione Frield, 24, of Woodridge, was charged with improperly crossing the road, pedestrian under the influence and aggravated resisting arrest at 10:42 p.m., according to arrest reports.
An officer attempting to take Frield into custody suffered minor injuries when Frield allegedly fought his efforts to detain him, Williams said.
The number of people receiving tickets won’t be known until all reports from that night are submitted, he said.
It’s not known if the group that gathered did so spontaneously or if it was orchestrated in advance. A video posted to YouTube captures the scene, showing what appears to be mostly teenagers and young adults hanging out on the sidewalks and spreading into the streets, some shouting “Black lives matter” after police started issuing tickets and took Frield into custody, said Zach Raucci, who shot the video.
Raucci said he lives just a few blocks from downtown and often comes over in the evening to film things happening in the area.
He said he’s noticed a greater police presence downtown after a vehicle struck a pedestrian about a week ago but he didn’t know what caused this particular group to gather.
It took a little more than an hour to break up the crowd, Williams said.
Similar incidents have been occurring in downtown Waukegan in which police have had to disperse large crowds of people loitering on the street. However, those cases have taken place about 2 a.m., coinciding with the closing time for downtown bars, officials said.