ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando police are investigating after another group of teens swarmed a community event in Pine Hills over the weekend. It’s the second time in three weeks a so-called teen takeover caused chaos and injuries in public places.
Organizers of the event this past weekend in Pine Hills are frustrated that their free event for family fun turned into a place of chaos Saturday afternoon in another teen take over. Orlando police and sheriff’s deputies responded to break up a big fight in a field right next to the event. Now, a security expert said that churches, nonprofits and other groups hosting events this summer need to plan for the unexpected.
Witnesses who saw the teen takeover say a large group of young people swarmed a field and then a fight broke out at a park next to the Central Florida Fairgrounds.
Paul Josaphat is the organizer of P Day, a free event that offers sports and fun games to give teens and other young people something to do. When he saw the swarm of teens in the parking lot, he ended the event early.
“I shut it down because I didn’t want it to escalate further than what it is. Then it would have been all on me,” Josaphat said.
This was the ninth year for P Day. Josaphat says next year if participants are not 21 or older they will have to come with their parents.
Dave Benson is an events security expert and a retired federal agent. He says teen takeovers are becoming more common across Florida, organized and driven by social media messages that urge teens to get involved.
“There’s safety in numbers. They’re probably being told, it’s the shock value. Nobody’s going to be hurt. It’s going to be great, and in fact the likelihood of people getting hurt or property damage is really a lot,” Benson said.
Benson added that the trend might not end soon. He says churches, nonprofits and other groups holding events this summer have a new list of security questions to ask.
“Who is invited? What security will be available? What to do in emergencies? How to respond to that?” he said.
Benson says the weakest point of security at an event is in the area just outside your ring of security, and that’s what happened in Pine Hills. He says event organizers have to coordinate with police ahead of events. He says parents and others attending events need to think about what they will do to remain safe or quickly and safely exit if a public place suddenly becomes chaotic.
Benson stresses that parents need to talk to their teens about the serious trouble they could get into if things spiral out of control.
“I assure you law enforcement is going to take this very seriously, and there’s going to be strict repercussions for this kind of behavior,” he said.
Orange County Commissioner Mike Scott agrees parents have to take control of their children and convince them not to join the teen takeovers.
“I think parents have to understand it’s not a one- or two-time conversation. It’s a continuous conversation, and you’re mom and dad of your kids, right? But you’re also a mom and dad of their friends and their friends. So, it’s making sure you have a consistent relationship not only with your son and daughter but also with their friends,” Scott said.
Josaphat says P Day will be back for its tenth year in 2027, but with robust security.
“Extra security and extra police too. Not just extra security but police too, because it’s getting wild out here,” he said.
When we asked for an update on the investigation on Monday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office referred us to Orlando Police, the lead agency on this case. Orlando Police did not respond to our request Monday for an update on the investigation.