More than 1,000 teenagers swarmed into Orlando’s popular Icon Park Saturday night for a “takeover” of the tourist attraction and when fights broke out more than 50 deputies were deployed to break up the gathering.
Two deputies were injured and hospitalized but have since been released, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Monday.
Mina said the teens descended upon Icon Park — home to the Orlando Eye Ferris wheel — around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, running “crazy” throughout the area and starting several fights.
Nine teens, ages 13 to 16 were arrested, some of them on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting law enforcement.
“I’m sure a majority of the kids who went there didn’t go there to cause problems, but a lot of them did,” Mina said. “Some of these are very, very serious crimes…it comes with significant penalties and could, you know, ruin a young life.”
A manager at Helena Modern Riviera, a restaurant at Icon Park, said Monday that the teens stayed outside but that law enforcement’s closure of several exits made it hard for guests to get in and made some late for their dinner.
Mina said the “takeover” had been advertised across social media and that the sheriff’s office had prior knowledge of it, in part by monitoring social media. He said parents should monitor their children’s social media as well to see if their kids are aware of such events and warn them not to participate.
He also said the sheriff’s office is aware of another such event advertised on social media for May 9 at an unspecified location and issued a warning to anyone planning to attend.
“To those people who might plan on going there, just know that we are going to have dozens and dozens of deputy sheriffs there,” he said. “We will have transport vans ready to take you away in handcuffs if you break the law.”