Jeanine Pirro vows to prosecute parents over DC teen takeovers
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, is tackling the escalating problem of violent incidents involving teenagers in the city, with a focus on holding parents responsible. She underscored her commitment to prosecuting those involved, citing a recent altercation at a D.C. Chipotle as an example. Pirro also criticized the positions of mayoral candidates who refuse to collaborate with her office.
On Tuesday evening, the Metro Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., released images of four individuals suspected to be involved in a large-scale fight at a Chipotle restaurant located in the Navy Yard area.
The MPD has joined forces with the FBI to conduct an investigation into the incident, which gained widespread attention on social media after a bystander’s video showed the chaotic scene, with adults and young children seeking refuge in a corner of the restaurant.
Authorities are offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of each suspect, with local police proposing $1,000 per individual and the FBI offering an additional $5,000 for each person apprehended.
The D.C. Police have made public surveillance images of four juvenile suspects connected to the May 16 brawl at the Chipotle in Navy Yard that went viral. (Metro Police Department)
The video shows two groups of juveniles whaling on each other and hurling furniture across the restaurant. At one point, one suspect used a children’s high chair to beat another suspect before launching it at him. All the while, the horrified onlookers tried to protect themselves from the violence.
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The violent outburst was the latest in an ever-growing trend of teen takeovers, many of which have turned violent, across the nation’s capital and specifically in the city’s Navy Yard.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro had vowed Friday, just a day before the brawl, to prosecute parents of youth suspects who commit crimes after the city’s nightly curfew, which will take effect during the summer.
She doubled down after the video went viral.
Teens brawl inside a Chipotle in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Reddit/r/washingtondc)
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“These are not harmless gatherings. They are violent and they are disruptive. And you can see from what happened at Chipotle this past weekend, it was not just violence occurring between individuals. It was simply destruction of property. It was a takeover of a restaurant by individuals who felt that they could get away with it,” Pirro told reporters at a news conference Monday.Â
“Parents, you are not a bystander in this crisis. The taxpayers who were footing the bill by extra policing, cleaning up damaged property, suffering the effects of these illegal gatherings, whether it be noise or fights or robberies or chaos, are done starting now,” she added. “Parents, you’re paying the bills and if you know where your teen is and what your teen is doing, and you allow them to continue their conduct and continue to allow them to flourish, then we’re going to prosecute you.”
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, spoke during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6, 2026. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Under Pirro’s plan, adults will be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor if their children are busted causing late-night chaos.
MPD told Fox News Digital there were no further updates as of Wednesday morning.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI.