Neighbor in teen mob attack: 'You don't even see this stuff on TV'

A group of at least 20 teenagers wielding bats, clubs and bars smashed out windows of a car while trying to attack a man Wednesday night, police say.

Police still are searching for the teenagers involved.

Residents near the victim's home in the 5100 block of South Galway Avenue called police after seeing the car race through the neighborhood with a mob of teenagers striking it about 9:30 p.m.

The incident began when the victim caught his son and two of his friends smoking marijuana in the basement, police spokesman Sam Clemens said. The victim told the friends they had to leave, but his son followed.

A fight broke out between the father and his son's friends when he tried to keep his son from leaving the house, Clemens said.

"He was able to hold both of them until police arrived," Clemens said.

No report was made, Clemens said, because the victim just wanted his son's friends to leave.

After the officer left the scene, the victim went outside to move a car parked in his driveway, Clemens said. Then a mob of teenagers showed up and surrounded the car.

"They surrounded the car and started beating on the car and broke the windows," Clemens said.

The man drove across his lawn to escape the mob. And he drove through several yards in the neighborhood evading the teens.

One neighbor, Curt Ahlemeier, said he saw the teens and thought they were going to mess with a friend. The next things he heard were a blaring horn, screaming and banging.

"All of a sudden, I saw a car going 30 to 40 mph hit the curb," he said. "All you could see is headlights and kids running all over, then I saw a kid get hit while he was coming off the curb."

Ahlemeier called the police to report the incident. He tried to get the plates of the vehicles the teens were in but was unsuccessful.

"That's when they switched to start chasing each other in their cars," he said. "Then it was just constant cars flying down these roads. They were hitting and swerving at each other. You don't even see this stuff on TV."

Eventually, the mob dispersed. The victim was able to identify a few of the teens but didn't know most of them.

Spence Dvorak, 18, said he saw the incident and thinks the teens and the victim should be arrested. He said he asked one of the teens why they were headed to the victim, and they told him to fight the victim because he punched one of them in the face.

He said the victim was trying to run the teens over and could have handled the situation better.

"I understand you're scared for your life," he said. "But what you should have done was get in the car, call the police and get away from the scene. Not go after the kids in your car."