6 teens, 1 adult arrested in Center City melee; police beef up patrol

CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- Police say six teens and one adult were arrested Wednesday for disorderly conduct in Center City.

Anthony McCoy watched the melee touch off at 15th and Market.

"It was fighting down the block, down the steps, just high school kids," said McCoy of Upper Darby.

"What we had this afternoon was a significant number of kids - close to 100 - that were just wondering around looking for trouble," said SEPTA Police Inspector Steven Harold.

SEPTA police and city police bike patrol remained on the scene hours later.

After a group of teens were fighting each other, and as police tried to break it up, they began throwing items at officers.

"With the warmer weather we were anticipating something maybe breaking, and it's usually neighborhood disputes or issues that are occurring in the school," said Harold.

Even SEPTA Police Chief Nestel tweeted: "I am and we all seem to have our hands full. The youth of our city are off the hook in Center City."

"I walk there everyday and I don't want to get in a street fight with a 100 13-year-old's," said Temple University graduate student Zek Leeper of North Philadelphia. "I don't want that at all."

Others say this only spotlights a deeper issue.

"Majority of our young people don't have nothing to do after 3 p.m.," said Greg Rivers of Germantown. "You don't have study hall like you used to, you don't have different things that will bring the attention back to our young people."

SEPTA police say parents also need to take responsibility. Police are regularly out in the afternoons when school gets out, and will be again Thursday since it will be warm.