‘Swarm’ of children attack woman in Pleasant Hill Park

Bonnie Halcrow is bruised and scraped and is having trouble turning her neck after being swarmed and beaten by a group of children in a Saskatoon core neighbourhood.

The 33-year-old was at Pleasant Hill Park on Monday evening with her daughter when she noticed the large gathering of boys in the area.

“I knew in my heart something was going to happen,” she said.

The trouble began when the boys started throwing rocks at an elderly man pushing a fridge on a trolley past the playground. The man asked them to stop, saying he hadn’t done anything to them.

As several more rocks were thrown, Halcrow pulled out her phone and began recording. She told the group of boys she would turn the video over to police.

“A couple of those kids tried stealing my cellphone from me, and I grabbed it back,” Halcrow said. “As soon as I was on my knees, they started swarming me.”

One boy grabbed her and started punching, while several others jumped in with kicks and punches of their own to Halcrow’s body.

Halcrow’s daughter and her friend were relegated to watching in horror.

“My adrenaline kicked in and I barely felt those punches and kicks, because all I could think about was my daughter and her friend,” she said. “I was hoping they were safe.”

She was eventually able to regain her feet, and the boys dispersed.

“They all took off,” Halcrow said. “It’s a lot easier to fight somebody when they’re down. Once they get up, it’s more fair.”

A man sitting in the park at the time recorded a video of the beating, and submitted it to Saskatoon police.

Halcrow gave her own statement to officers Wednesday morning, and police say they’re investigating the children.

However, it’s believed several of the children are under the age of 12, making it unclear whether any charges can be laid.

Asked if she had a message for the parents of the boys, Halcrow said there should be more discipline in those homes.

“They need to do a better job raising their kids,” she said. “Ganging up on people isn’t right.”

She also doesn’t plan to return to Pleasant Hill anytime soon.

“I definitely won’t be going back to that area,” she said. “I’ll just stick to the park in front of my place.”

Saskatoon couple describes attack in city park

A Saskatoon couple witnessed the event.

Video of the incident was widely shared on social media and Lou Rogers, whose home overlooks the park, said the scene that he saw play out through his front window was just as horrific as it looked in the footage.

“There were about 20 of them and they were just like wild dogs when they attacked this individual — and all she wanted to do was take her little girl and play on the playground equipment,” he said.

Rogers’ wife Caroline said the incident left her feeling unsafe in the neighbourhood. She called for police to step up foot and bicycle patrols in the area.

“I don’t think the cars are enough. Driving by in their cars isn’t going to cut it,” she said.

Rogers said he hoped the ugly incident would serve as a wakeup call as to what has been going in the area over the last year or so.

“Total chaos,” he said. “And these kids are approaching others that are younger to join up with them. And these little rascals are trying to sell you drugs — uppers, morphine.”

For now, he said he just does what he can.

“All I can do is pray to the guy upstairs that things will turn around and work with the authorities (and) keep dates,” he said. “I keep a log on what the hell goes on.”

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Bryn Levy