After a mob-style attack in Center City Philadelphia injured an off-duty officer, his wife and four others, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross took aim at the group of teens suspected in the case.
"It's just stupid, there's no other way to describe it," said Ross Monday morning.
A large crowd of teens were at a club along the 1600 block of Walnut Street -- just a couple blocks from Rittenhouse Square -- around 6:10 p.m. Saturday. A smaller group of teens in the crowd then began to attack random people in the area.
"They said it was unprovoked," a witness, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10. "They didn't say anything and they just found themselves getting beat up. It was scary."
A 55-year-old Philadelphia police detective, who was off-duty at the time and with his 53-year-old wife, spotted the teens attacking a 21-year-old man, police said. As the detective walked toward them, the teens fled the area. The detective began walking back to where his wife was when he spotted more teens attack two young men in their 20s, according to investigators.
The detective announced he was a police officer and tried to arrest one of the teens who was kicking the two men. As the detective grabbed the teen he was punched from behind by several other attackers, police said. The detective's wife splashed water on the teens in order to stop them. One of the attackers then punched the woman in the face, police said. All of the teen attackers then fled the area.
"He got seriously hurt doing so but he did his job, we're very proud of him," said Ross.
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The detective suffered an orbital fracture to his right eye. The man and his wife, who also suffered minor injuries, were both taken to Jefferson Hospital for treatment. Three other people suffered minor injuries during the attack.
"We looked and we saw people who had obviously been beaten up," the witness told NBC10. "They were bleeding from their heads. We saw at least three people that were like that."
Immediately following the attack on 1600 Walnut Street a 28-year-old man was attacked by several teens on 100 S. 16th Street. Responding police officers then arrested two 16-year-old boys.
"You got people getting assaulted and that should not happen, it's ridiculous behavior," said Ross.
More arrests could come as investigators poured over surveillance video, said Ross who noted that the teens are old enough to know right from wrong.
"Some people want to indict the parents but I talk about personal responsibility, these are kids old enough to know better and not do something like that," said Ross.
"They should be absolutely held accountable for what they did and there's no excuse for it," said Ross.
Ross said he hopes the incident was an "anomaly" but that police would "respond accordingly" with Center City patrols.
