Cd'A police target teen fights
COEUR d’ALENE — City police said they are getting closer to identifying antagonists in a teenage brawl at Tubbs Hill and plan to press charges once the investigation is complete.
The video of a Tubbs Hill mob scene in which a shirtless teen struck another youth with a cane — as the melee of swinging fists and flailing arms was documented on a shakily-held cellphone — has Coeur d’Alene residents concerned.
The incident was among several that occurred around Memorial Day weekend, and the aggressive outbursts haven’t stopped.
On a recent Facebook post, Coeur d’Alene resident Audrey Rhodes described a mob of teens fighting in City Park on Wednesday.
“This is now the second major incident this summer already,” Rhodes wrote. “These fights happen in broad daylight in family places with lots of tourists.”
Rhodes asked the mayor what the city plans to do to curtail future incidents.
Wednesday’s incident drew a quick response by police, and the department has dedicated patrol officers to handle future incidents, Detective Jared Reneau said. The officers have been instructed to cite, possibly arrest, but not warn.
“At this point, that’s how we’re dealing with it,” Reneau said.
Aggravated assault carries a maximum five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, and aggravated battery, also a felony, carries a maximum 15 years in the poke. Lesser misdemeanor offenses for fighting are handled with a citation, he said.
If kids are involved in fights, he said, or if they incite a fight, they will be issued a citation.
Finding the combatants has not always been easy, as teens tend to clam up when police arrive and officers are often left without suspects, witnesses or victims.
“For a few minutes it got chaotic,” he said. “A couple fights broke out (in City Park) and they dispersed pretty quickly.”
Police did cite five individuals Wednesday for fighting in public, Reneau said, and alcohol was an underlying factor.
Fights in public places among teens tend to increase as school ends in the spring, Reneau said, but so far this year, there seems to be an uptick in the skirmishes, something officers have orders to stamp out, as in Wednesday’s case. Police plan to continue their response, investigation and punitive approach.
“We’ll try to identify those, so we can take enforcement action and discourage any of that in the future,” he said.
The city plans to hire civilian “downtown ambassadors,” Reneau said. These ambassadors will add another set of eyes and ears downtown and will make quick contact with patrols when necessary.