'Hundreds' Of Juveniles At Sky Zone During Brawl, 1 Citation Issued So Far: Orland Park PD

ORLAND PARK, IL — A massive brawl among juveniles broke out at Sky Zone in Orland Park Sunday evening, during an at-capacity "free jump" day at the south suburban trampoline park.

Video from inside the facility at 66 Orland Square shows chaos erupting, with juveniles lunging at each other and toppling crowd control cordons.

Orland Park Police Commander Scott Lefko said that the melee stemmed from an initial battery call between juveniles, around 7:30 p.m. Police from multiple jurisdictions including Orland Park, Tinley Park, Orland Hills, Oak Forest and Cook and Will County sheriff's departments then descended on the business to help disperse the crowd, Lefko said.

Lefko said that as of Monday afternoon, one citation for battery has been issued. An investigation is ongoing, he said.

It's the latest trouble at the park, which fought to stay in Orland Park after a 2020 incident revealed it was drastically over capacity during a fight at a lock-in "Glow Night" event. The fight drew a heavy police response, and called into question the safety of patrons and the community. Estimates put the number of people inside the building at more than 840; its capacity at the time was listed as 682.

At that time, Orland Park held several hearings to consider possibly revoking or suspending the business' license. They revoked it, Sky Zone appealed it within the designated 90-day window—and the Village stuck to its decision. Sky Zone then took the dispute to Cook County Court, where a judge said the Village had acted too hastily in pulling the license, and should reconsider.

Orland Park Village officials then reached a settlement that allowed the park to renew its business license, but that required that it adhere to strict guidelines to remain open.

“We anticipate and expect that Sky Zone will act as a responsible corporate citizen going forward, but if it again violates the Village Code provisions that are meant to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community, we will once again take the necessary and appropriate steps to remedy that situation” Mayor Keith Pekau said at the time of the settlement in 2021.

Patch reached out to Interim Village Manager Jim Culotta on Monday for additional comment.

It was not immediately clear Monday how many people were inside the trampoline park at the time of the incident.

Mayor-Elect Jim Dodge on Monday said that a review of police incident reports is necessary to determine next steps involving the business.

"This is not the first time things got out of control at Sky Zone," Dodge said, adding that at the root appears to be a management failure. Dodge said the timing of any possible future action against the business is unclear. Dodge is set to be sworn in May 5.

"It feels like a similar kind of problem (to the 2020 incident)," Dodge said. "You had a pretty big police presence, which is expensive for the taxpayers.

"How responsible for that is Sky Zone? Once we get clarity on that, it’s a legitimate question, to ask what actions should be taken against them."