This juvenile gave law enforcement trouble this afternoon on Clinton Street. He had fled from Wyndham Lawn this morning along with seven other residents. (PHOTO BY STEPHEN M. WALLACE / CONTRIBUTOR)

ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

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Many of the juveniles had bags full of their belongings.

Eight children who left Wyndham Lawn this morning were found this afternoon by local law enforcement. Then all hell broke loose.

According to witnesses, the teens were found first by an unmarked Niagara County Sheriff's Office Drug Task Force team member.

"He was kind of keeping an eye on them until some marked patrol cars could get there," said Lockport Police Chief Larry Eggert.

When a Sheriff's deputy arrived and attempted to apprehend the juveniles, one of the eight began to fight with the deputy. Calls for backup went out as another of the kids joined in the fight.

Nearly a dozen police cars ended up at the scene around 3:30 p.m. Even with numbers now on their side, police had trouble with the juveniles.

"The whole dynamic changes from when you've got one person to when you've got 10 ... and that's exactly what happened here," Eggert explained.
One juvenile in particular — a black male — was kicking, punching, spitting and even biting at law enforcement as they subdued him. He yelled at photographers as they took his picture being put into the back of a squad car.

Twin City Ambulance showed up to attend to a deputy who was injured. He was taken to ENH-Lockport.

"I give him credit," Eggert said. "He used his hands to take the young boy into custody. He didn't use his TASER or baton or pepper spray."

Law enforcement showed up in large numbers.

Two of the juveniles were charged, although their names were not released by law enforcement as of yet.

Whether the juveniles will return to the campus is not yet known, but Wyndham Lawn said earlier today in a statement: "Although in most cases residents who leave are returned to the campus, if it appears that a child is unwilling to remain at Wyndham Lawn or whose legal status prevents that from occurring, alternative resources will be arranged."

Eggert said he doesn't recall many violent instances with Wyndham residents.

"You run into one or two people that just don't want to go back ... but it's a fairly rare occurrence," he said.

He did note, however, that most Wyndham Lawn calls are fielded by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office.

A call to Niagara County Sheriff Jim Voutour was not immediately returned.

Twin City Ambulance transported an injured Niagara County Sheriff's deputy to ENH-Lockport.

There's more photos here.

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