According to police, three teenagers were arrested for serious crimes after a fight

Three juveniles were arrested on felony charges and placed on juvenile probation following a fight Tuesday, Bloomington Police Capt. Ryan Pedigo said in a statement Wednesday.

The officers arrived in the area of ​​W. 13 at around 9:25 p.m.th and N. Illinois Street on a report of a fight in progress, according to Pedigo’s statement. The call indicated that about 10 people were fighting but then began to disperse.

Police arrived in the area around 8:10 p.m. that evening after reports of people arguing and waving weapons, but when officers arrived, the group dispersed, Pedigo wrote.

When officers arrived the second time, a neighborhood security guard told them that a group had gathered near Illinois Street and Illinois Court and had begun fighting. He pointed to two men – a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old – involved in the fight, including one who was in possession of what the security guard believed to be a handgun. Police later determined the weapon was a toy replica of an Orbeez-brand Glock pistol.

When officers approached the two men, they walked away and told police they were minors. Officers told them they could not leave because they needed to talk to them about the fight and police needed the teens’ parents to be present for questioning.

When the 13-year-old disobeyed, officers attempted to detain him, Pedigo wrote. He physically resisted and fell to the ground with the officers. The 13-year-old refused to allow officers to restrain his hands. The teen repeatedly tried to reach into his waistband.

At the same time, the 14-year-old ran towards the officers who were holding the 13-year-old, but was stopped by other officers. He fought back and tried to restrain the officer who was holding the 13-year-old before he was handcuffed.

After officers detained the 13-year-old, he refused to go to a police car and was carried by officers, Pedigo said. They then discovered the teen’s toy gun in his waistband.

According to Pedigo, two officers were injured during the arrests.

In the car, the 13-year-old told officers he was having trouble breathing, so police called an ambulance and stopped near Scout’s Honor, a dog daycare, at the intersection of 11th and Fairview Street. Officers unzipped the 13-year-old’s hoodie when he said he was hot.

While rescue crews were examining him, the 13-year-old’s family members arrived and began “yelling” at officers, Pedigo said.

The 13-year-old then pushed himself out of the police car and had to be detained again. At this point, a 14-year-old girl pushed past the police officer to get to him.

She made a statement that police understood to mean that she wanted to stab someone, Pedigo wrote.

The young woman was only 10 feet away from the police officers who were holding the 13-year-old and did not step back when asked, so the police tried to hold her wrists. She tried to pull her arms away, but the police eventually handcuffed her.

In Indiana it is illegal Approaching within 25 feet of a police officer after being ordered to stop. Law came into force last year.

Pedigo also wrote that officers spoke with a community member near the original scene of the disturbance, and that member said the two teenage boys threatened to kill them before police arrived. The security guard confirmed that statement.

According to Pedigo’s statement, the 13-year-old was arrested on two counts of intimidation and resisting police resulting in bodily harm, both of which are level six felonies.

The 14-year-old boy was arrested for resisting police, which resulted in a charge of assault, a level six felony.

The 14-year-old girl was arrested for intimidation (a level six felony), trespassing (a class C misdemeanor), and resisting police (a class A misdemeanor).

All three were transferred to the juvenile detention center after the BPD attempted to question them, Pedigo wrote.

Several videos of the encounter were posted on X by the page @IUonStrike, which falsely states that one of the teens is 12 years old. One shows three BPD officers holding one of the male teens face down. The other video shows bystanders talking to the officers as the 13-year-old boy repeatedly screams, “I can’t breathe.”

Another video uploaded to Imgur and shared on Reddit, appears to show the family of some of the teens arguing with police. An officer hands her cellphone to a person claiming to be the 14-year-old girl’s mother.

At one point, one of the women says, “Nobody is doing anything,” and the police officer replies, “We are waiting for you to leave. You are too angry.” She replies, “I am not angry, I am scared because I know how white police officers kill black children.”

Care Not cagesA local advocacy group opposing the construction of a new prison in Bloomington released a statement Wednesday on Instagram Condemnation of the police operation shown in the video.

The statement said firsthand accounts indicated police struck one of the male teenagers and that seven police cars and an ambulance were dispatched to the scene. The Indiana Daily Student could not immediately confirm those claims.

“Care Not Cages condemns police violence against a child,” the statement said. “We denounce the racism that prevents so many Americans, especially police officers, from seeing Black children as children. We condemn the blatant racism in the police’s inability to see a Black woman as anything other than ‘angry.'”

The statement also said that emergency responders told passersby filming the incident to “move on.” The IDS could not immediately verify this statement.

The statement added that the arrest of the teenagers, at least one of whom is black, was a “reminder of local racism and police brutality” ahead of Independence Day celebrations in Bloomington.

“This is an unconscionable incident for a city that prides itself on its civilian and community-based police force,” the statement said.

The IDS is looking for further details about the incident.

This story may be updated.