Videos circulating online show a chaotic gas station takeover that happened in Corryville on Halloween, in the moments leading up to when two police officers were assaulted.
Videos from nearly every angle of the takeover, near the corner of Jefferson Avenue and West Corry Street, have been posted online for tens of thousands to see. The videos show hundreds of people dancing in Halloween costumes, while others climbed on top of gas pumps, waving around what looked like bottles of alcohol.
Isaiah Fairbanks was there with his friends and said the large group ranged from under 18 to over 30 years old. He said it all started with an incident on Short Vine Street Saturday night.
WATCH:
Hear from someone who was at the gas station takeover and a BP station employee about what happened Here's what BP gas station says happened during Corryville Halloween takeover"It all started when everybody started running. I didn't hear no shots, but you know we hear shots. You just got run," he said. "So me and my friends ran. Everybody went to [Kroger]. Police shut that down. Then everybody just started going to like BP, and that's when everybody started coming in."
Police say somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people gathered near Kroger. Arrest records show people were fighting in the area and setting off fireworks, with nearly a dozen arrested in Corryville.
Fairbanks said the gathering grew organically.
"It all started from like a big black truck playing music and a dude on top of a car," he said. "When they hear music, people come."
Rohan is the gas station owner's son. He and a few other people were inside the closed shop when the takeover happened. He said the crowd started small before growing rapidly.
"Yeah, it was about like 10 to 15 people at the beginning, and then I guess maybe word got out," Rohan said. "They all decided to come here and go crazy."
When asked what was going through his mind at the time, Rohan described watching the scene as "shock coming through your body."
"You don't know what's going to happen. They could have easily looted the store, came in and just took down the door," Rohan said. "But then they just started going crazy at the pumps, and just thinking it was like a nightclub out here on the gas station."
Rohan said he and the others tried to reach police multiple times while staying inside, as Fairbanks left after a fight broke out nearby.
"I think it was a fight on the side of the street. I think a fight had started ringing out. Then my friends had started pointing at the police [pepper spraying]," he said. "So we had just left because we're not trying to get involved and none of that for real."
The crowd stayed for around 45 minutes, Rohan said, before police cleared the area. That's when two officers were assaulted. Fairbanks said he saw the videos of the assault afterward.
"I was surprised, like they really did that, like to a police officer. Like that's kind of crazy. That's not even cool. You for real? That that's not cool at all. Like that's not cool," Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks said he believes what happened to the officers was separate from the gathering.
"We was all vibing, having fun, and I did not expect that...I was in the city for real, especially not a police officer. That's crazy," Fairbanks said. "You can't really hate. We're just trying to live life. We young. We trying to live life."
Rohan said what happened is the latest of a string of incidents the area has dealt with.
"We get a lot of stealing in here that happens, and you know we get a lot of people soliciting that won't leave that try to bother other customers, and it just keeps going on and on. [I'm] sick and tired of it," Rohan said.
Once the crowd left, Rohan said it took staff two to three hours to clean up the mess.
"You would have thought a tornado came in here and just wiped everything. All the trash was everywhere," he said. "We just had to work extra hours because of this. And yeah, we just had to clean up the damage that didn't need to happen."
Rohan said he hopes for more police presence in the future, better response times and more communication with local businesses from city leaders.
We also spoke with Cincinnati City Councilman Mark Jeffreys about the takeover.
"It's appalling on multiple levels. First, the amount of people who took over [the] parking lot, gas station, and then assaulted two police officers," Jeffreys said. "I think it's out of control, and I do think we need to condemn it first."
Jeffreys said he reached out to city management to understand the plan going forward.
"I think all of us need to be briefed on what happened. What additional resources may be needed in the short term? And so we'll wait to get that first. I mean, I would look to CPD and UC Police to identify what else they need to do their job effectively," Jeffreys said.
Jeffreys said he expects the police department and city administration to provide an update to the Public Safety and Quality of Life committee later this month.
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