Warmer weather brings increase in fights, assaults in downtown Naperville
The number of fights and assaults in downtown Naperville is rising with the spring temperatures, police said.
After a three-month stretch over the winter in which there were no reported assaults, batteries or fights in the city's central business district, police have responded to reports of five batteries and two assaults since the beginning of March, Deputy Chief Brian Cunningham said.
One of them was over the weekend.
Charles Severson, 43, of Lockport, was charged with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct and released on bail after he was accused of throwing a glass, arguing with a bartender and punching another employee at a bar in the 00-99 block of East Jefferson Avenue.
Police did not say at which bar the reported disturbance occurred, but Quigley's Irish Pub at 43 E. Jefferson Ave. is the only bar on the block.
Police were called at 7:35 p.m. Saturday to a report of a fight in progress, Sgt. Bill Davis said. Officers were told Severson started to argue with the bartender after employees wouldn't serve a woman he was with because she appeared to be intoxicated.
Officers found Severson and the woman on the west side of a nearby parking deck and took Severson into custody, Davis said.
The arrest came shortly after police announced the results of the second quarterly downtown crime report since the city council implemented stricter liquor regulations last fall. That report, which included crimes in December, January and February, showed no incidents in the category for assaults, batteries and fights, Cunningham said.
Since then, there have been three reported batteries and one assault in March, one battery and one assault in April and one battery in May. But Cunningham said the number of disturbances remains relatively low.
“Those are not zeros, but they're still pretty low numbers,” he said.
Police will reassign school resource officers to the downtown during the summer, and Cunningham said the department also is prepared to send more officers to the area if needed to ensure public safety.