ANDERSON TWP., Ohio — The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is adopting a new "zero tolerance" policy toward juveniles at the Anderson Towne Center after numerous reports of "unruly behavior."
“They’re stealing liquor from Kroger’s, there was at least one opportunity where they took the lobsters out of the tank, took the rubber bands off the pinchers and then set them loose in the store. Like I said they’re throwing condiments on the walls. They’re going up and down the aisles throwing things, the milk trick where they pretend to slip and throw the milk in the air and then it bursts on the ground," said HCSO Sgt. Thomas Lange.
District 5 of the HCSO, which patrols the Anderson area, posted on Facebook about the new approach Monday morning.
Deputy Brian Hayes said that unsupervised juveniles being dropped off at the Altitude Trampoline Park or the AMC Theater have been causing issues, specifically at the Kroger there.
Lange said the teenagers have a right to be there, but they need to behave.
“It’s not the community nor our job to babysit these kids. They are several years, 4 or 5 years from adulthood. They know what’s right and wrong," Lange said.
Hayes said that the district has stepped up patrols but can't be there 24/7, and an in effort to "put an end to this illegal activity", deputies will no longer simply send the kids away from the towne center. He said instead, the juveniles will either be detained or criminally charged, requiring parents to respond and pick them up.
Lange added each situation will be at the officer's discretion on what to do.
“I don’t want it to be where people think we’re just going to start arresting kids for being out. That is not what this is. This is for the kids who act up and cannot behave themselves," Lange said. “We’re not going to detain anybody for just being there. We will only detain the kids who do criminal activity."
If a juvenile is charged, that will require parents to report to juvenile court in downtown Cincinnati, Hayes said.
Elliot Dickerson works at a restaurant at the shopping center. He's happy law enforcement is cracking down.
“I’ve had people walk through into the building screaming at me, specifically middle school kids, and then I’ve had high schoolers running around jumping over our outside dining room tables and our poles. I’ve also seen fights, thefts like it’s been wild," he said.
Dickerson added the unruly behavior could be affecting businesses.
“We’ve definitely been slower and we’ve been all been trying to talk about why we’ve been slower, and I have a feeling it does have a little bit affect to do with the kids running around and causing so much mayhem and problems in the towne center," he said.
Sgt. Lange said they have not identified specific teens, but they know where they go to school.
“Most of them are middle school kids. We’re talking out of Nagel Middle School, they’re from Milford, and St. Ursula," he said.
In an email statement, Forest Hills School District Communication Coordinator Josh Bazan said:
"Throughout the school year, Forest Hills School District reminds students in all of our buildings of the importance of behaving in a safe, responsible and respectful way at all times. This is an off-campus situation being handled by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and the district has no further comment at this time."
St. Ursula Villa School had no comment. WCPO 9 has reached out to Milford Schools, but has not heard back.
Lange said these teenagers are coming into the store in large groups in the evenings and on the weekends. They asked about 30 teens to leave the first time they were called out to the area. Around 25 teenagers were asked to leave the second time HCSO was called.
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