Detroit businesses share impact of "downtown takeover" by teens: "It's not good"

Teenagers took over downtown Detroit on Friday night, marking the second time in two weeks of such a gathering. The trend has become popular in cities across the country.

While many people were celebrating the Detroit Tigers' home opener win, dozens of teens were being handcuffed and put into the back of police vehicles.

"I kind of tried to stay out the way, and then this morning, I got to practice, and some of my teammates were talking about some kids that they knew were down here got arrested," Jonathan Major, an employee at Born in Detroit, said.

An employee at the apparel store Born in Detroit says the so-called "downtown takeover" caused a lot of chaos and confusion Friday night.

"I just felt like it wasn't somewhere I wanted to be. And I don't like being in the mix of stuff. So I feel like if I go back to the campus and get away from downtown, you know, there's no risk, nothing to worry about," Major said.

Business owners are worried that if the social media trend continues, fewer people will want to visit downtown Detroit.

"We are a city that's growing, and we want to be able to, you know, show people that this is the place you want to be. We don't want to, like, scare them away," DeWitt Moore, co-owner, 3 Kings Sports Cards, said.

Lekeisha Williams, the assistant general manager of Central Kitchen and Bar says some of the teens tried to run into the restaurant to escape police. She says it's becoming a safety concern for customers and staff.

"It was so many teenagers out here, more than I've seen ever in the city of Detroit, and they just started getting very rude, belligerent, and luckily, our security here, they were all hands on deck," Williams said.

She says they observed weapons on some of the teens.

"We witnessed some of the teens that had guns on them. We could see from inside of our restaurant. We're looking out from our patio. We actually had to remove some of our people from our patio too, just as a safety precaution," Williams said.

According to a spokesperson for the Detroit Police Department, the summer surge initiative has started.

"You know, maybe their parents should know where they are or know what they're doing, because it's not good," Major said.

The initiative calls for an increase in patrols downtown and curfew enforcement.

Parents face potential fines of $250 to $500 for violations.

Businesses now hope teens will move on to less disruptive activities in the coming months.

"We just want to make sure everybody makes it home safely to their families," Williams said.