A 16-year-old girl has been charged with assaulting a police officer after a rowdy evening at the CNE forced it to shut down early.
At the event’s annual ‘Youth Day’ – where visitors under 17 years old pay only a $6 admission fee – police said fights started to break out between groups of young people.
Police allege they were arresting a man at the Exhibition Place for an unrelated matter at around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday when a large group of people surrounded them.
The officers said they left the fairway with the man in custody and headed toward the vendors area. The crowd proceeded to follow the officers and one girl started to push a barricade toward them, police said.
They allege the 16-year-old girl then attempted to punch one of the officers “several times.”
When the officer ordered the girl to stay back, police said she continued to be aggressive and was ultimately arrested.
Once in custody, the girl tried to escape officers by kicking them. It was only when police used pepper spray on the girl did she comply with the officers.
She was later given medical treatment for the spray.
The girl, a Toronto resident, was charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of obstructing a police officer.
Earlier, police said a 17-year-old boy was arrested for drug possession and a 16-year-old boy was arrested for assault and failing to comply with conditions that same night.
Though officers were able to break up the altercation, officials with the CNE ultimately decided to shut the event down at around 9 p.m. after speaking with Toronto police.
Typically, the CNE stops admitting visitors at 10 p.m. but allows those already inside to enjoy the event until approximately midnight.
The closure was initially reported as a result of over-crowding.
“The behaviour that we saw was very disappointing. It’s not something I would expect from the youth of Toronto and when we have to shut down an event of this size and scope because of the behaviour of a few is very disappointing,” CNE general Manage Virginia Ludy told CP24.
Cell phone video taken from the scene showed crowds scrambling in different directions as a fight broke out near an amusement ride in the midway.
The CNE said they will review the ‘Youth Day’ event and make any necessary changes.
“When you have families and strollers and people out enjoying the night while they’re looking at the lights and really not paying attention to what’s going on around them, it just creates a bit of an unsafe environment,” Ludy said.
“I think we’re going to sit down and have a conversation with our security partners and with the police and our staff internally to make a determination if we continue with Youth Day or not.”
Speaking at an unrelated event Wednesday morning, Mayor John Tory said the incident is concerning.
“I’m delighted so many young people had the interest in going to the CNE, which is something that’s been around for 100 years – sometimes those things go out of fashion and nobody goes. But at the same time, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing,” he said.
