Teenager's attack on couple prompts alderman to call for 8 p.m. curfew for downtown minors

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) is pushing to impose a curfew on unaccompanied minors in the city center following an attack last week on a couple by a group of teenagers.

The couple was on a date Friday evening when they were surrounded by a group of teenagers who began beating them around 9 p.m. near Grand Avenue and McClurg Court in Streeterville, Chicago police said.

Police say the man, aged 40, was hit repeatedly in the head by a 14-year-old boy, and the woman had her hair pulled out by a 17-year-old girl.

In an interview with Fox32 Chicago, the woman said the attack was not a robbery and that the teens pepper-sprayed her and kicked her in the stomach. She was two weeks pregnant and said she discovered after the attack that she had lost the baby.

Both teens were arrested and charged with battery, a misdemeanor.

Hopkins said the charges were “totally inappropriate” and asked the Cook County District Attorney's Office to upgrade them to a felony “given the seriousness of the attackers' actions.”

Hopkins is now pushing for an 8 p.m. curfew for all unaccompanied minors in the central business district. The curfew would prevent minors from being in the city center without adult supervision.

“I do not believe that all of the miners present at these recent rallies have bad intentions, but it is unfortunately clear that a few agitators and ringleaders have repeatedly incited violent and chaotic actions, and this activity cannot be tolerated,” Hopkins said. A declaration.

If passed, the curfew would allow police to cite violators.

On Wednesday evening, about 50 police officers were stationed outside the AMC River East theater in Streeterville. Anyone under 18 was not allowed into the theater as IDs were checked at the doors, but only a small group of teenagers had gathered in the area.