According to authorities, five teens have been arrested and charged with numerous offenses for allegedly engaging in “disorderly activity” that harmed at least one cop in Washington, D.C. on Halloween night.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced in a news release on Saturday, Nov. 1, that the arrests were made after youths collected in an area “adjacent to an entrance to the Navy Yard Metro Station” in the Navy Yard neighborhood beginning around 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 31.
Police reported that around 8 p.m., several hundred youths had congregated in the area, and while “initially peaceful,” “many” of them began “engaging in fights and disrupting the flow of traffic, repeatedly ignoring instructions to remain on the sidewalks.”
MPD responded to the location, along with Metro Transit Police, United States Capitol Police, the National Guard, and Federal Task Force members, in an attempt to control the situation. According to MPD, officers closed off streets, engaged the gathering to “restore order,” and directed them to the Navy Yard Metro Station.
During this time, police apprehended five teenagers. Kaeden Brown, 18, was charged with possessing a restricted weapon (a knife).
A 16-year-old male has been charged with illicit marijuana usage. A 15-year-old male has been charged with affray, or inciting a public fight between numerous persons. Two 14-year-old lads have been charged with failing to obey and resisting arrest. They were all unidentified since they were minors.
The MPD stated that the Metro Transit Police made two further arrests, but did not disclose any information.
One of the MPD officers suffered “minor injuries” after being “knocked to the ground during the effort to restore order in the park,” according to MPD. The cop was treated on the scene by emergency services.
A video posted on X revealed how wild the situation became, with several adolescents shouting and running across the park in groups while what appeared to be National Guard personnel picked them up. Dozens of police cars could be seen flashing in the background.
“The behavior displayed last night in the Navy Yard is unacceptable, and MPD and our law enforcement partners will have an increased presence tonight to ensure this does not happen again,” MPD Chief of Police Pamela A. Smith said in a statement.
“This group chose not to visit any of the events hosted by MPD or our DC agency partners and instead gathered in this manner,” she said afterwards. “This evening, MPD will preemptively close several streets around the park area south of M Street, Southeast.”
She concluded her speech by stating that the public may expect “an increased deployment of MPD officers and partner agency members” and thanking the officers and their partners for their “professionalism during this incident.”
