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Dolton weighs future of Rucker Athletics after viral summer camp fight videos
The future of the Rucker Athletics Fitness and Training Center in Dolton now rests in the hands of village officials after disturbing videos showing children fighting inside the facility sparked a police investigation and prompted a formal hearing over whether the business should be allowed to reopen.
DOLTON - The future of the Rucker Athletics Fitness and Training Center in Dolton now rests in the hands of village officials after disturbing videos showing children fighting inside the facility sparked a police investigation and prompted a formal hearing over whether the business should be allowed to reopen.
New details in Dolton summer camp shut down
The backstory:
Because minors were involved, cameras were not permitted inside Thursday's hearing. However, testimony revealed new details about how the camp operated, the facility's licensing, and its lease agreement with the Village of Dolton.
The hearing stems from videos first obtained by FOX 32 showing children fighting in multiple areas of the facility, including a bathroom, a media room and the gym, with no adults visible intervening. The mother of several children involved previously told FOX 32 the camp lacked supervision and structure and has since filed a police report. She also plans to file a lawsuit.
During the hearing, Village Attorney Michael McGrath argued the building was approved to operate as a fitness center, not as a summer camp or daycare. McGrath said principal owner DeAndre Rucker never obtained the licenses required to operate a camp serving approximately 60 children.
"It is your responsibility to make it a safe environment for everyone," McGrath told Rucker during the proceedings.
Under oath, Rucker accepted responsibility for the lack of supervision.
"It became more of a youth camp than a fitness camp. I'm not going to deny that," he testified.
Rucker declined an on-camera interview following the hearing, citing pending litigation.
Dig deeper:
He testified that the free summer camp served about 60 children and was staffed by four full-time employees and six part-time workers. Rucker also says the same family appears throughout the viral fight videos. Rucker told Fox Chicago off camera that the family has targeted him because of a separate fatal shooting that occurred earlier this year at his cigar lounge. No one has been charged in that homicide and it's unclear about the connection.
Rucker also testified that, prior to the incidents captured on video, only two other fights had been reported at the facility since it opened in January.
The hearing also revealed that Rucker never applied for a child daycare license, which village officials argued was required for a summer camp of that size.
Additional testimony shed light on Rucker's lease agreement with the Village of Dolton. Under the agreement, Rucker was permitted to defer rent payments until later this summer after agreeing to pay $50,000 toward the property's outstanding pool debt and investing roughly $200,000 of his own money to renovate the building.
What's next:
Village officials will now review all the testimony and evidence before determining whether Rucker Athletics' business license will be reinstated, allowing the facility to reopen, or revoked, forcing it to remain closed.
The Dolton Police Department's investigation into the incidents remains ongoing.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Tia Ewing.