EUCLID, Ohio — Last Saturday, teens overtook the streets of Euclid. And it wasn't by the dozens, but by the hundreds.
"I didn't know what to think," Euclid restaurant owner Donna Blount said. "I was just afraid. I came out, I was begging them to leave, but nobody's going to listen to me."
From outside her restaurant Gram Grams, Blount says she watched as the kids marched from Ss. Robert & William Catholic Parish after police shouted at the teens on a megaphone to "leave the area now." However, the teens put up a fight.
They were on the outskirts of the church festival, which is meant for family fun. But when the scenes turned chaotic, the pastor of the church, the Rev. John Betters, stood firm in continuing the event.
"There is a temptation (to stop), it but it's so important for our community, so important for unity," Betters said. "So many people are struggling; this is a great event of hope and love and."
And events like Ss. Robert & William's church festival have been canceled all over Northeast Ohio, says Blount.
"I've been here for a lot of years — everything is gone," she lamented. "185th, 222nd, Irish American — every festival is gone but this."
Euclid City Council is considering legislation to hold parents and guardians criminally responsible when "delinquent acts" involving juveniles occur.
And there were plenty of occurrences of children behaving badly. From profanity, to inappropriate gestures — police are heard on the bodycam video saying one of the teens spat on another person — to the unthinkable.
But most of the teens were not from Euclid, Betters said.
"I saw a lot of Ubers pulling up," the pastor claimed. "We actually even had two party buses pull up."
Euclid Police did their best to de-escalate any fights, and had to use OC spray and pepper balls to disperse the crowd. The police department said it did everything it could to protect the residents of Euclid.
Blount praised the officers for controlling the unruly teens. It was hard watching the rowdy behavior, she says, and this should never happen again.
"These people over here don't deserve that. The church doesn't deserve that," Blount said. "I just ask people, please start raising your children right."