CHICAGO — Chicago police arrested three people during Monday night’s City Series opener when the Cubs beat the White Sox in extra innings, but police sources say the arrests were not connected to a brawl that erupted in the stadium bleachers toward the end of the game.
Instead, Chicago police were called to Wrigley Field and found paramedics attending to a man with a nosebleed.
The man, age 26, told Town Hall (19th) District police officers that someone had “sucker punched” him near one of the stadium bathrooms, according to court records. Police arrested David Cregan, 41, of the Archer Heights neighborhood, and charged him with battery and possession of 25 grams of cocaine.
A 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman also were arrested Monday night. Each was charged with misdemeanor trespassing, according to department representatives.
Cregan appeared before Cook County Judge John Hock for less than five minutes Tuesday afternoon at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, where prosecutors said police found drugs on him during a post-arrest search.
Hock’s only remark was to ask, “He was at the Cubs game with 25 grams of cocaine?”
He ordered Cregan released pending trial and barred him from having contact with Wrigley Field or the alleged punching victim.
The Cook County public defenders’ office, which was appointed to represent Cregan, didn’t immediately respond to an email request for comment.
Meanwhile, a brawl in the bleachers went viral on Tuesday across social media. The Cubs’ All-Star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong called that fight “unfortunate and somewhat nauseating.”
While Crow-Armstrong said he didn’t think the players focused on the crosstown rivalry on the field, he acknowledged that “you’ve got people in the stands competing too.”
“All jokes aside, it’s really good for the city having both of us playing the kind of baseball we are and putting games out there like we did tonight,” he said.
Chicago Cubs spokesperson Jennifer Martínez told the Chicago Tribune that fan safety is a “top priority.”
“We work closely with our public safety partners to respond to incidents at the ballpark and appreciate their partnership in addressing the situation last night,” she wrote in an email.
Fighting, along with taunting and making “threatening gestures or remarks,” is strictly prohibited by the Wrigley Field’s code of conduct.
The Cubs and the Sox will face off again Tuesday evening and once more Wednesday afternoon.
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Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro and Tess Kenny contributed reporting.