Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

SEPTA police increasing after-school presence following brawls

SEPTA police officers will soon begin riding all subway trains in Philadelphia between 3 and 7 p.m. in an attempt to reduce the frequency of after-school fights among teenagers, Chief Thomas Nestel III said Thursday.

In announcing the arrest of 10 teenage boys for a fight at a Center City subway stop last week, Nestel said too many youths had become involved recently in brawls and other violence fueled by classroom beefs, social media, or peer pressure.

Last week's melee at the Race and Vine Street stop was one example, Nestel said. Another occurred Wednesday afternoon, when six teenage girls were arrested for fighting in West Philadelphia. One girl lit another's hair on fire, Nestel said, and another attempted to stab a 13-year-old several times.

"School dismissal time has become a period for youth violence," Nestel said at a news conference at SEPTA's Market Street headquarters. "We have kids causing pain and fear among other kids."

The brawl last week began around 3:45 when 11 teenage boys began pummeling a different group of five teenage boys at the subway station, Nestel said. He said he did not believe the two groups knew each other. Video of the melee shows several of the victims being punched and kicked while curled up on the subway station's floor.

Nestel said authorities identified all 11 perpetrators and arrested 10 of them Thursday: seven at Ben Franklin High School, one at the Franklin Learning Center, and another after a foot pursuit in North Philadelphia. He did not know where the 10th suspect was apprehended, and said charges against the 11th -- an 18-year-old and the only non-juvenile in the group -- were pending approval by the District Attorney's Office.

Each of those arrested was to be charged as a juvenile with aggravated assault and robbery, Nestel said, since they allegedly took electronics from the victims.

He said that many of those arrested simply got swept up in the wrong situation, and that some of their parents had spoken to SEPTA police and were "outraged that their children were involved in such activity."

"This isn't a case of kids with no parental guidance or example," Nestel said. "These are decent kids who in a large group are losing control of themselves and doing things they wouldn't ordinarily do."

Earlier this month -- after a larger group of teens fought near City Hall -- Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said police had been detailing officers to Center City in an effort to prevent afternoon mayhem, a situation he called "ridiculous."

Nestel urged parents to help authorities by knowing where their children are after school and whom they're with.

"It's not a neighborhood thing," Nestel said. "It's an entire city thing."