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Teens who posted street fights on YouTube may face charges
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FarkRapid City police are recommending criminal charges for a group of teens who allegedly planned and participated in fights behind the Rapid City Public Library and then posted videos of the fights on YouTube.
The fights occurred March 25 on public and private property in and near the 600 blocks of Kansas City and Quincy streets, according to the Rapid City Police Department.
The video shows people in the alley behind the library and later in the parking lot of the First United Methodist Church.
Eight different clips of footage were posted on the popular video Web site shortly after that, according to Lt. David Walton. He said charges against the 14 teens, whose ages range from 15 to 17, include disorderly conduct, trespassing and unlawful assembly.
Petitions were submitted to the Pennington County State's Attorney recommending charges for those who participated in and taped the fights. A citizen's report led to the investigation.
No serious injuries happened during the fights, according to Walton.
The teens attend different Rapid City high schools, Walton said.
He said investigators had reason to bring charges against the group of teens even though the fights were mutually agreed upon by the participants.
"This is something our kids shouldn't be doing," Walton said. "It's dangerous. Somebody could get hurt."
Walton said the disorderly conduct charge is being recommended because fighting causes public alarm and annoyance. The unlawful assembly charges stem from the group organizing with "criminal intent," Walton said, and the group was trespassing because the property adjacent to where they gathered was marked private.
He said the parents of the teen who allegedly posted the fights made their child shut down his or her YouTube account. But Walton said he doesn't believe he has the authority to make YouTube take the fight videos down.
This isn't the first time Rapid City police have had problems with kids organizing fights and posting them on the Internet. He said a similar incident occurred near Canyon Lake last year.
Walton said some of the participants in those fights ended up with more serious injuries.
In light of the recent incident, Rapid City police plan on patrolling the area behind the library more heavily. That area has been a problem in the past, Walton said.
Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com.
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