Five Cited After Downtown Fight Early Saturday

Five young men have been cited with fighting, and disorderly conduct-public drunkenness after a fight broke out early Saturday at Cedar and North 2nd streets in downtown St. Charles.

Cited at 1:55 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013, were:

• Christopher M. Principio, 24, of the 6N100 block of Ridgewood Lane, St. Charles;

An officer on patrol noticed the fight and observed hearing the sounds of fists contacting bodies while driving to the scene from about a block away. The officer called for assistance.

As the officer got out of the squad car, someone yelled, “the cops are here, stop fighting,” but the call went unheeded, according to the report. But the fighting stopped when the officer first grabbed Principio and placed him against the squad car, then instructed Hurst to do the same.

The three Elgin men did as they were told when the officer told them to sit on the ground where they were standing.

Other officers began arriving shortly afterward.

The St. Charles men told police the Elgin men had been harassing them all night, and then started fighting when one of the St. Charles men hurled back some verbal abuse.

The Elgin men, however, told police they came outside to find the two St. Charles men jumping up and down on the back of Welch's truck.

Police Blotter information is provided by the St. Charles Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.

Let Patch save you time. Have local stories delivered directly to your inbox with our free newsletter. Fast signup here. Then like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @StCharlsILPatch.