Crystal Police On Alert for ‘Pop-Up Gatherings’
Crystal police say they were on high alert over Fourth of July weekend for so-called “pop-up gatherings” after two previous incidents at Becker Park.
Pop-up gatherings, also known as “take-overs,” involve large groups of people, mostly juveniles, who gather at a certain location determined usually through social media communication.
The most recent incident at Becker Park occurred on Sunday, June 30. In that instance, Crystal police say a group of approximately 300 people, almost all juveniles, arrived within an hour’s time with many of them using ride-share services.
Resident Steven Jonak said he saw the situation unfold.
“A lot of the time it will start [with] the small group of kids, and they’ll kind of be hiding out by the bathrooms or hiding out by the tennis court, or the pickleball court,” said Jonak.
Crystal police said “numerous fights broke out.” Police also said juveniles were illegally using fireworks and Orbeez guns, toy weapons that blast gel beads, which police said created an “unsafe situation.”
“It was really concerning because you didn’t know what was going to happen because they have the Orbeez guns, and kind of looked like real guns so you worry about something getting out of control,” said Jonak.
Jonak said his family saw dozens of people disperse to the nearby Target once police arrived.
Police said they spent the next couple hours dispersing the groups from businesses. Crystal police said they made six arrests for disorderly conduct.
Crystal policy Deputy Chief Brian Hubbard said his department anticipated another similar incident over Fourth of July weekend, but nothing transpired.
“The department will not allow another incident of this type to occur and will be proactively stopping any of these types of gatherings at the park prior to them starting,” said Hubbard in a news release.
Added Hubbard, “Large groups of juveniles arriving at the park by ride-share will be turned away prior to exiting their vehicles, officers will take enforcement action up to and including arrest for all illegal activities.”
Other cities, including Brooklyn Park and Plymouth, have dealt with similar large disturbances at parks in recent weeks.
