Struggling to stem what they see as a growing suburban gang presence, Schaumburg officials are considering a plan to effectively ban teen dance nights, the very events some organizers had hoped would provide safe havens for bored young people looking for a good time.
The proposal pits the owner of a club that holds such dances against municipal leaders concerned that the village will be blamed the next time such an event gets out of hand.
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”If a fire starts and 200 kids are killed or if a riot breaks out and 10 kids are stabbed, people are going to come back to the village and say, `Why did you let these crowds build up? `Why did you let the promoters pack the place?` ” said Village Manager George Longmeyer.
Caught in the middle of all this, though, stand thousands of frustrated teenagers fighting for their right to party.
”If you`re 17, 18, 19 or 20, you`re too old to get into high school dances and you can`t go to bars. What are you supposed to do? You go to somebody`s house, get drunk, get in a car and drive somebody down,” said Gregg Owen, general manager of Toto`s, which for the last two years has sponsored alcohol-free teen dances on Sunday nights.
”Here, there`s no drinking. It`s totally safe and secure,” said Owen, who formerly headed gang prosecutions for the Cook County state`s attorney`s office and helped put away notorious gang leader Jeff Fort.
But, while such events might be safe and secure, their organizers and local police are pressed to keep violence from spilling into the streets once the party`s over.
That`s what happened last month after a dance party at the Schaumburg Marriott, where thousands of teenagers had converged for a night of music and dancing.
Police said members of a gang had planned a retaliatory ”ambush,” but nothing happened at the dance. Later, police said, they shot a 16-year-old Buffalo Grove boy as he was entering a Denny`s restaurant in Rolling Meadows. On Thursday, Rolling Meadows police were planning to arrest four more youths in the shooting, bringing to nine the number of young men whom authorities are charging with attempted murder and other crimes in connection with the incident.
Police planned the additional arrests after gang members who allegedly watched the shooting gave authorities conflicting information about what happened early Jan. 20.
”We`re doing this because there`s an attempt by this group of people to subvert the investigation,” said Doug Larsson, deputy police chief in Rolling Meadows. ”We want to send a real loud message to anyone who would belong to a gang, commit a drive-by shooting and then have their friends cover up for them.
”That loud message is, `We will treat you the same as the shooter. We will charge you with the same offenses.` ”
Each of the nine, including the one police allege fired the shot, Edgar Uriostegui, 19, of Wheeling, has now been charged with attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm, armed violence and aggravated battery with a firearm.
The shooting apparently was the result of a feud between gangs. Authorities have learned that the wounded boy was not the intended victim, said Cook County State`s Atty. Jack O`Malley.
”There was a plan that they hatched together,” O`Malley said. ”They went to this Denny`s restaurant to wait for this guy. The guy next to him was shot. Consequently, they are all charged with the attempted murder of their intended victim.”
Prompted by such incidents, Longmeyer and Police Chief Kenneth Alley plan to go before a Village Board committee Monday and suggest eliminating the licenses that permit commercial establishments to hold teen dance events.
”I`m not against teen dances. I think they`re great,” Longmeyer said.
”Our problem is the way these clubs are being promoted, (with) advertising all over the metropolitan area.”
But Owen, the general manager at Toto`s, 1450 E. Algonquin Rd., contends his establishment is being unfairly punished for what he calls the
irresponsibility of those who promoted the Marriott event.
”The people at that event did exactly what the (village license ordinance) was intended to prevent-coming into the town, holding an event, overpromoting it, not having adequate personnel and putting it in a venue that can`t handle all those people,” Owen said.
The promoters of the event at the Marriott could not be reached for comment Thursday.
While police say they have responded to fights inside and outside of Toto`s, Owen said he has 20 security officers watching over each teen dance night and five uniformed Schaumburg police officers, with two or three squad cars.
”If it wasn`t safe and secure, they wouldn`t have granted us the licenses week after week,” Owen said.
Owen said the larger issue is that if village officials prohibit teen dance nights because of what happened at the Schaumburg Marriott, they will merely encourage gang members.
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”The message is this: Exert your influence over a business, and if you create problems for that business, the village will close it down,” Owen said.
For their part, many teens argue that gangs are everywhere, so why close down a place that gives all teens a place to hang out?
”In school, it`s almost the same thing. Everything is almost ruined because of gangs,” said Cortney Southwick, 15, as she shopped at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. ”It`s unfair to all the people who aren`t in gangs, who don`t want to be in activities like that.”
Suburban teen dance parties often draw young people, including gang members, from throughout the Chicago area. That`s when the trouble sometimes begins.
”The dances and stuff are nightmares for me. The women are there, and you become a macho man,” said Joel Perez, who operates God`s Gym in Elgin.
”Schaumburg has got to wake up and find out what they want to offer. They better concentrate on alternatives for these guys.”