3 arrested after North Avenue Beach disturbance

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - For the second time this week, brawls at North Avenue Beach have marred a beautiful day for beachgoers.

The aftermath of the melee captured on cell phone video shows a shirtless man with blood on his face, chest and hands.

“We just saw a few people start running and they started fighting and then you see this whole crowd kind of gather and start running and it was like this big mess of people fighting,” said beachgoer Callie Stone.

She and several friends were just laying out on their towels when people started running.

“All of a sudden like, it's just like a big, it was kind of like a mosh pit, and there were people in the middle and they were fighting and all that stuff,” said Lauren Miskel, who also witnessed the fight.

Police handcuffed and arrested three individuals, an adult and two juveniles.

One man was taken to a hospital for treatment after the fight that police say was alcohol related. Three other minors were transported as well after getting sick, possibly from alcohol as well.

“I haven't seen anything like this before, it's more of like a fight culture,” said Montre Caref who works at the Clark Street Sports sales hut.

He shot the video for Snapchat. He said he’s worked at the beach for three summers and also saw the huge melee that broke out on Memorial day. In that case, it was a series of fights that police did not even try to break up.

Visitors to the city's busiest beach say there are plenty of people drinking and doing drugs, almost with impunity, despite a visible police presence.

The fights are almost like entertainment.

“People are amused by it so they kind of join in, want to get it on social media, so they end up just gathering around just to make it a big thing and it's like entertainment to them pretty much,” Stone said.

“That's what these guys go for when they start fights, it's just for that reaction, they think they're cool after they do it. I think it could get worse, I think it could get messy, but I really hope it gets better,” said Caref.