Residents concerned about police response as arrests, injuries during massive Bay Area teen parties
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Hundreds of teens showed up in strip mall parking lots across the Bay Area for Friday night ragers, which ended in fights and lots of trash being left behind.
Multiple arrests were made in Brentwood and two people taken to the hospital in Alameda.
Brentwood police are planning to meet Tuesday to discuss these teen takeovers, with talks of another one in the works.
Video above shows teens all over the place at the South Shore Center parking lot in Alameda last Friday, and now neighbors are questioning the police response.
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"Heard two loud pops! Kids and cars came racing out of the scene so I got in my car and drove over. Probably 300 kids in the parking lot," said Keith Theige, who lives nearby.
While some we spoke with thought those loud sounds were gunshots, Alameda police say it's unclear what they were. Officers tell us a large celebration was taking place with students from outside Alameda.
Officers described a fight. Witnesses said it was an intense scene involving lots of drinking.
"EMS was staged along this street, they wouldn't come in. The cops trying to figure them out, they were on a bull horn yelling at the kids. Multiple fights, saw one kid get pulled out by his buddies, saw a lady and they were all probably less than 20 years old. One lady got pulled to the car by her friends, she had been in a fight," said Theige.
One witness told ABC7 News reporter J.R. Stone, she saw around a dozen fights break out near the entrance to the strip mall. Another witness told him that some teens were jumping on cars and pounding on their windows.
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The fire department says they transported two people to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. This scene was eerily similar to a situation on the same day in Brentwood at Sand Creek Crossing. Police there say a group of 300 plus kids came from outside the area, some arriving by rideshare. There were fights and items knocked off store shelves. Five people were arrested.
Those we spoke with in Alameda are very concerned.
"They need a place to hangout and have a good time with their friends but when you get critical mass like that, there is the potential for violence and for people to get hurt and I don't want to see that happen to anyone," said a woman by the name of Linda.
"There was police here and people fighting so I thought people would get arrested. If I was to hit you in the face I would get arrested, so I'm surprised there was no arrests made here. I've lived here for seven years and I've never seen anything like that," said Theige.
Alameda police say it appears this was an isolated incident, but Brentwood police call their case a "link up" and are investigating another possible meet up being talked about online.
