It was a River Forest police officer who deployed multiple rounds of pepper balls in two locations on Lake Street on Halloween evening as police from that village and other neighboring forces turned out to assist Oak Park police in dispersing a crowd of some 500 teens who had gathered in Downtown Oak Park.
There were reports to police of fights on Lake Street near Harlem around 8 p.m. on Oct. 31. A gunshot was reported at Lake and Forest that left a bullet hole in a nearby apartment. There were no reported injuries from that shot.
Oak Park police closed Lake Street to auto traffic and began working with officers from other communities to move the teens east on Lake Street and toward Austin Boulevard.
Oak Park officials confirmed Sunday, in response to an inquiry from Wednesday Journal, that pepper balls had been deployed at Lake and Harvey where a fight had broken out among a small group of teens. Via an Oak Park spokesperson, Oak Park Police Chief Shatonya Johnson made clear it was not an Oak Park officer who used the chemical weapon. As late as Monday, Oak Park said it did not know which neighboring department was responsible for the pepper balls.
After reviewing video from the scene provided to the Journal on Monday, the Journal asked River Forest if the officer was a member of its force. In a statement, the River Forest police department said one of its officers had deployed pepper balls twice Friday evening at two locations on Lake Street.
River Forest said its officers are provided with pepper ball guns after proper training and that it had reviewed body cam footage from the evening and concluded its officer had “properly deployed” the pepper balls and been successful in helping disperse the crowd.
“Pepper balls were deployed in two instances,” said River Forest officials. “The first was in the area of Lake Street and Forest Avenue right after a confirmed report of a gun being fired. The pepper balls were deployed at the ground at an individual armed with a bat and disobeying an officer’s commands. This intervention de-escalated the situation and dispersed the crowd.
“The second incident in which a River Forest officer deployed pepper balls was in the area of Lake Street and Harvey Avenue. The officer was responding to assist Oak Park police with a fight in progress. The pepper balls were deployed at the ground at numerous individuals [who were] actively striking a victim. This intervention de-escalated the situation and dispersed the crowd,” said the River Forest statement.
Earlier the Oak Park spokesman said no one was injured or impacted by the use of pepper balls.
Dan Yopchick, the Oak Park spokesman, confirmed that Oak Park police do not carry pepper ball weapons. Further, he said that when multiple law enforcement agencies provide support on an incident that the Oak Park department leads, a “unified command structure” is set up with a goal of coordinating action and clear communication.
“While officers from outside agencies may employ tools or tactics not used by OPPD, the department was aware that multiple jurisdictions were present on Lake Street during the incidents but did not authorize or deploy any pepper ball weapons,” said Yopchick.
Laura Shaeffer of the Compound Yellow Studio at Lake and Harvey was among those who witnessed the confrontation at that location. She said on Sunday that a fight broke out among 8 to 12 teens in front of her gallery. “Two to three girls were slapping each other. It was a slap fight, the sort of thing you see sometimes with teens,” she said.
Shaeffer said a couple of police officers “charged toward the teens. I didn’t see any sign of an effort at de-escalation. They had these huge pepper ball guns,” she said. At least one officer began firing pepper balls.
One of those affected was Jasper Nord, the 23-year-old son of Shaeffer. He went outside to observe when the fight began. He said one officer shot “at least five pepper balls onto the driveway at the studio.” That impact dispersed the chemical irritants into the air.
When he complained to the officer who shot the pepper balls, he said the response was that the officer had shot them into the ground and not at any person. Nord said an Oak Park officer called him a “moron” and a “crybaby.”
Nord also said that, by the time the fight broke out around 10 p.m., almost the entire crowd of teens had already reached Austin Boulevard and the small group in the fight were the last stragglers.
In response to a question from the Journal, Yopchick confirmed that only municipal policing agencies were involved on Friday night. “There was no presence of ICE or other federal personnel as it relates to this activity on Friday,” he wrote.
