New Details Emerge in Teen Melee at Wolfe Wildlife Park

New details have emerged from the melee involving black and white teens at Wolfe Wildlife Park that resulted in the arrests of two older teens and left three others injured.

Stephen Hyde, 18, of Oak Lawn, and Hexadore Randall, 19, of Chicago, were each charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery, after they were picked out of a lineup by the injured teens last Wednesday, reports said.

Randall goes by the name "Dramablock DreadedUp Taehdoe," according to his public Facebook page. His Facebook page also includes questionable pictures of Hexadore touting weapons and contraband.

The accused teens and their friends, who are black, allege that the fight broke out because of racial slurs made by the white teens.

According to new information from police, Oak Lawn detectives responded to a request for backup at a “large fight” involving male juveniles at Wolfe Wildlife Park at 107th Street and Laramie Avenue around 9:22 p.m. Aug. 14.

When they arrived at the scene, they were informed that two teens had been taken to area hospitals with significant injuries, reports said.

New information also places a large dog at the scene, which police reports say was unleashed.

Detectives also determined that the altercation was centered around the footbridge and paved walking path in the park.

The father of a 15-year-old boy told detectives on the scene that his son was taken to Palos Hospital for treatment of a perforated eardrum and concussion.

Another 17-year-old boy was at Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was being treated for a broken hand and received stitches on his cheek.

Pursuing felony charges against the accused, detectives spent the next day piecing together the previous night’s events.

They arranged for the teens listed as victims in the initial case report, who are white, to be interviewed the next day along with their parents at the Oak Lawn police station.

The Cook County assistant state attorney also requested that the accused teens and four male black juveniles who were handcuffed and detained, but released without being charged, be interviewed. (Patch will present the other side of the story on Friday.)

According to new information from Oak Lawn Police:

• A 14-year-old boy suffered a slight concussion when he was allegedly hit, kicked and thrown into the pond at Wolfe Wildlife Park. The boy told police that he had been fishing in the park earlier with some other kids. He left at 9 p.m. to make his curfew and was alone on the path when he was approached by a black teen he later identified as Hyde. The boy asked, “what’s up,” and Hyde responded by punching him in the eye and knocking him to the ground. The 14-year-old said that while on the ground, several other teens kicked him. Hyde and two others picked the boy up and carried him toward a nearby pond. Screaming in fear for his life, the teens threw the 14-year-old into the water. After the teens threw the boy into the pond, they threatened to kill him if got out. The 14-year-old stayed in the water a moment before he swam away and eventually got out. Seeing the melee in progress, he went home.

• A 17-year-old youth told detectives that he went to meet a group of teens gathered in an open field at in the park around 7 p.m.  A few hours later, around 9 p.m., the 17-year-old and another girl left the park to go meet her brother, who was giving them a ride home. He was on the dirt path when he saw the group of black teens and an unleashed dog in front of him. The youth said that without provocation, Hexadore Randall got on top of him and began hitting him. The 17-year-old covered his face as Randall and several other teens began kicking him. The dog also bit his right shoe when he was on the ground fighting, but did not break the skin. When the youth’s friends emerged from the woods to help him the black teens ran away. The 17-year-old told police that he got up and chased another youth to fight him one on one “until we were done.” He was later taken to Christ Hospital where he received stitches on his cheek and treatment for a fractured hand.

• Another 15-year-old had also been with friends fishing at Wolfe Wildlife earlier in the afternoon. As he and his friends were crossing the bridge, the black youths fanned out across the bridge blocking their way, forcing the 15-year-old and his friend to walk single file. The 15-year-old told the teens, “I don’t want any trouble,” and was punched in the eye. As they walked away to avoid further contact, they heard the 17-year-old screaming for help.

• The other three teens listed as victims in the report corroborated the injured teens’ accounts of events. A 15-year-old who also had been fishing confirmed that he and his friends were forced to walk across the bridge in a single file lane. A black teen hit him in the head, but he was able to get to his phone and call his friends who were still in the park for help. He also told police that he heard the 17-year-old screaming and saw the 14-year-old coming out of the water covered in mud, crying that two friends were on the path fighting with a black teen. He said as more friends came out of the woods, the black teens ran away.

• Another 17-year-old was also part of the large group of teens in the field. He told police that at 9 p.m. he was handed a phone with his 17-year-old friend on the line, saying he just got punched in the face by the bridge. The group received a second phone call informing them of a fight near the bridge. He ran down the patch toward the bridge and saw his 17-year-old friend being held down and kicked by the other teens. The black teens ran away when they saw the victim’s friends arrive. As he was walking down the path after the fight, he found a cell phone on the ground and picked it up.

• The sixth victim, a 15-year-old boy, said he got bumped on the bridge. The black teens followed him and his friends pushing them from behind. He didn’t want to fight with them because they were bigger and had the dog. The boy said he watched someone get punched and knocked down. He picked up his friend and walked toward the street with him. He heard the 17-year-old screaming and went with his group to help him. The 15-year-old told police he saw the same group of black teens on the dirt path running in his direction and said a huge fight started. He saw another boy get hit in the head. When the fight ended he left with his friends.