Steve Oldham got plenty of attention Friday afternoon when, police say, he allegedly flashed gang signs and tried to start a fight with another young man outside Larsen Junior High School.
Before he knew it, three of the Elgin Police Department’s biggest brass were on him: Chief Charles Gruber and Deputy Chiefs James Burns and Eric Isom.
Oldham, 18, of 161 Franklin St., Elgin, was charged with disorderly conduct. He was released pending an April 30 court date, police said.
That was not the only bit of gang-fighting the Elgin police had done Friday.
Earlier in the day, officers from the department’s Community Action Group assisted Elgin High School staff by providing security for school officials while they searched vehicles entering school property.
Part of the department’s ongoing school-safety effort, the vehicle searches follows a 30-person gang brawl last month that left three students injured and one student charged with attempted murder. Shortly after that fight, school officials also used metal detectors for the first time.
On Friday, every fifth vehicle was searched for weapons, drugs and gang paraphernalia, police said. No guns or drugs were found, they said, but school officials did confiscate some paraphernalia.