Another Brawl

[mikesears]

From the Sports Illustrated website (from cnn.com).



CHICAGO -- A large brawl broke out during a boys high school state tournament basketball game last night, sending two people -- including a police sergeant -- to the hospital.

Two people were in police custody, being held as participants in the fight, which began small and grew to 50 to 60 fans, Monroe District Lt. Leo Schmitz told CBS 2 in Chicago.

Others estimate as many as 100 people were involved in the brawl, the TV station reported.

Rival gangs at the game started the brawl, Schmitz told the station early Tuesday. He had no further information on which gangs were involved.

The police sergeant was in good condition after suffering a heart attack, and a teenager was in good condition with head trauma, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Six ambulances were sent to the scene of the fight, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. at the United Center during a Class AA supersectional game between Harvey Thornton and Homewood-Flossmoor. Thornton won the game 46-40.

The fight grew too large for the security staff, which consists of several off-duty city, state and county law enforcement officers. Chicago police had to be called for help, police Sgt. Robert Cargie said. He did not know how many arrests were made.

It took at least 10 to 15 minutes for police to break up the fight, witnesses told the Chicago Tribune.

"Well, it was just a fight," a security guard, who declined to give his name, told the Tribune. "Some teenagers started fighting, and we tried to break it up."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.