Alexandria Fisher, NBC Chicago, April 1, 2013

More than two dozen teens were arrested Saturday night after dozens of groups began randomly attacking pedestrians on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

Police responded to reports of disturbances around 6:30 p.m. Saturday near Michigan and Chicago avenues. They said a number of teens took to the streets and started fighting.

Police said 28 teens were arrested during the incident and charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and battery and later released, according to Police News Affairs. Eleven other teens were charged with misdemeanor charges after they allegedly attacked a group of women on the CTA Red Line, police said.

“You have over three to four hundred teenagers with mob action, jumping on individuals that are downtown,” community activist Andrew Holmes said. {snip}

Officers began breaking up the attacks by ushering teens to the Red Line. Chaos continued underground but many attackers reportedly left the area.

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Residents were concerned that this could be the first in a long line of attacks after warm weather brought on a string of similar instances last year.

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