Friday, July 02, 2010

A "Rowdy Taste of Chicago!" Tribune Editorial-ese: Stabbings, Tasings, Wholesome Good Fun!


YeeeHaaaawwww! Tayste A'SheeKawGo! Pardners, strap on on your cleets and buckle your chin straps, We Goin' to The Tayste!


Rowdy night at the Taste: 3 stabbed, 1 Tased

n what onlookers described as a rowdy night as the Taste of Chicago let out, three teenagers were stabbed downtown in two separate incidents, police said this morning. In addition, police said they had to use a stun gun to subdue a man who got into fight with them.


The most serious injury was to a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed in the back in the 200 block of South State Street about 9:25 p.m., said police News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines.

The teen was walking with friends when they encountered a group of fighting males, Gaines said.

The teen felt pain in his back and realized he had been stabbed, he said. The injury was described as serious but non-life threatening.

The teen, who was described by police as a known gang member, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but large crowds leaving the Taste blocked the ambulance for a time. The boy was still hospitalized this morning.

About 15 minutes later, two boys, ages 14 and 15, who were leaving a McDonald's restaurant, also in the 200 block of South State, encountered what police described as a melee--perhaps the same one the other boy walked into--and tried to get away, said Police Officer Laura Kubiak.

Before they could, the 14-year-old was cut on his lower right arm and his 15-year-old companion received a two-inch laceration to his lower back.

The two boys ran to a Red Line station, where they hopped on an 'L' train and got off at the 79th Street station. Their parents took them to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where they were treated and released, police said.

Some people attending the Taste reported other violence, which apparently brought out a large contingent of riot-clad police to the area.

Taja Jarrett, 20, was getting out of her retail job in the Loop at 8 p.m. when she said she first noticed large crowds in the area. She and Shanice Brown, 17, were planning to check out the Taste festivities when they saw a fight break out near one of the entrances.

The two walked west to Dearborn Street where they encountered another large brawl. They also saw an increased police presence, including officers on horses, ATVs, on foot and in cars. Dozens of helmeted on all-terrain vehicles ushered a large crowd west on Jackson Boulevard away from Grant Park.

In the Tasing incident, also nearby in the 300 block of South State, a 24-year-old South Side man was blocking traffic and refused officers' requests to move, said News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli. The man struggled with officers on the scene, and pushed one of them before being taken into custody. Marabelli said police Tasered the man when he continued to be unruly and began fighting with them.

The man was taken to Mercy Hospital where he was evaluated then turned over to police. He has been charged with resisting arrest and reckless conduct, both misdemeanors.

There was also a small fire at the food fest, with a transformer catching fire near the Art Institute of Chicago. The fire was quickly put out, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Joe Roccasalva. However, it apparently caused some small power outages in the area.


--David Elsner, Serena Maria Daniels and Liam Ford


Rowdy? As in a Charlie Daniels Fiddle Fest?

Well Torture has a whole new meaning - it's a derivative of Perjury.

Victims are people who strangle two women and two toddlers soak them in gasoline and ignite the corpses; get convicted; have ambulance chasing Commies like Flint Taylor and Locke Bowman as mouthpieces; howl long enough and get sprung from your guilt -that's a Victim, cooked up in Flint's Kitchen.

Makes sense.

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