Crystal shuts Becker Park amid three days of teen unrest

Crystal police say they were forced to break up large groups of 75–150 unsupervised teenagers at Becker Park on three straight days, ultimately closing the park entirely on Sunday when the crowd became 'so big and so charged' that officers deemed it unsafe. Chief Brian Hubbard says officers recovered water‑gel bead guns, pepper spray and a taser, and arrested multiple teens on disorderly conduct, trespassing and theft charges as fights and disturbances spilled from the park into nearby businesses and shopping centers. Police say many of the teens used ride‑share apps to converge on the park during the first real warm spell of the year, turning what’s supposed to be a family space into a flash‑point that one visiting Minneapolis mother described as 'chaotic.' The department has now put extra patrols around Becker Park and is publicly stressing a zero‑tolerance stance, even as some residents accuse it on Facebook of unfairly targeting youth; Hubbard, who is Black and has children of color, insists the response is driven by safety, not race. For Twin Cities parents and nearby businesses, this is a warning that unsupervised social‑media‑driven meetups can quickly trigger park closures, arrests and heavier police presence well beyond the neighborhood where they start.