3 Charged After 70-Person
Metro Brawl
4 hurt and 3 in Police custody
Updated: Saturday, 07 Aug 2010, 7:31 PM EDT
Published : Saturday, 07 Aug 2010, 1:15 PM EDT
WASHINGTON D.C. – Metro Transit Police estimate as many as 70 people were involved in a Friday night brawl which involved two downtown D.C. stations on the Green and Yellow Lines.
Four people were taken to hospitals in ambulances, and three teenagers were arrested.
Transit police got a disorderly conduct call at the Gallery Place / Chinatown station around 11:00 p.m. on Friday. That station is located in an entertainment district that draws numerous people to the streets on Friday and Saturday nights.
Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato says investigators believe the beef started on the lower platform serving south-bound Green and Yellow Line trains. Many of the young people involved apparently boarded a train, and got off two stops later at the LEnfant Plaza station, where fighting again broke out on the platform.
Officers at D.C. Fire / EMS thought they might have a mass casualty incident, so they sent extra personnel and ambulances to the station entrance at LEnfant Plaza. Department spokesman Pete Piringer said personnel on the scene evaluated the injured, and transported a total of five people to hospitals. Two of the five were treated and released; three were hospitalized. Piringer said one of those treated was a woman who suffered an asthma attack while witnessing the brawl.
About a half hour after the fight, D.C. Fire / EMS got a call for an injured young man at the Anacostia Metro station, which is further down the Green Line. Piringer said that teen appeared to have been suffering from a stab wound.
Transit police did not find weapons at the stations nor with any of those arrested, according to Asato.
18-year old Angelo Nicholas, of Washington, D.C. was arrested for disorderly conduct, according to the Metro spokeswoman, as was a 16 year old juvenile. Another 16 year old was charged by Metro Transit Police with simple assault. All of those arrested were male.
Security cameras record video at Metro stations. Asato confirmed that Transit Police are retrieving that video as they continue their investigation of the fight.
The D.C. Guardian Angels have put out a call via email for more members and donations.