Hillside police rushed to the scene and three officers were hurt trying to break up the brawl that was captured by a security camera.
The fight started just after 2 a.m. Friday morning at the Hillside Bowl, which is located at 4545 W. Harrison in Hillside.
Those three injured officers are expected to be OK. One was punched in the face and head, another sprained his wrist, and the third was bitten multiple times including in the nose. This happened after trying to quell a melee which included people swinging baseball bats.
As punches are thrown, at least one employee tries to escape into the next room.
There is a pause in the fighting as the security guard in the cap steps in, but soon, it starts up again behind the bar. A woman uses a soda sprayer on the crowd.
When the fight moves into the parking lot, things really get ugly.
"They have bats and everything out here. This is ridiculous. It's a whole bunch of women and men fighting," said a caller to a 911 operator from the bowling alley.
"It's January, so there's no softball going on right now. People carry baseball bats in their cars," said Hillside Police Chief Joe Lukaszek.
Police say within minutes five Hillside officers arrive and are attacked as they intervened and radioed for more help.
"We expect people to resist arrest, and officers do get injured sometimes when people resist arrest. In this case, they were attacked. This is completely different than the norm," Lukaszek said.
The officers who were hurt were taken to Loyola Medical Center Friday morning and have been released.
Police have arrested four men and three women, and may bring charges against others.
"At 2 a.m. at a bar, I'm sure alcohol was a contributing factor to the whole fight, but we're still investigating that," Lukaszek said.
Police say the injured officers used stun guns with little effect. It wasn't until more than 20 officers from multiple departments arrived at the scene that the fight was broken up.
The Cook County State's Attorney is still deciding on what formal charges to bring.
