WICKER PARK — A man was badly injured and bleeding in the street near Milwaukee and Wolcott avenues Monday afternoon, but the good news was it was just a scene from "Chicago PD," a spinoff of NBC's "Chicago Fire."
"I've never seen anything like this before; I'm from Iowa," said Cindy Fenner, a Wicker Park resident who was on her way back from Walgreens at 1272 N. Milwaukee Ave. when she stopped to watch the commotion.
Fenner and several other curious passers-by were snapping photos on their smartphones.
Diane Salomon, a local resident, tweeted several photos of the filming, including "a man on fire" and what she called her favorite pic of the day, "actor Patrick Flueger after a chase scene making adjustments to his backside."
Flueger plays Officer Adam Ruzek, an undercover policeman.
"It seems like a lot of work for a probably a 20-second clip," said Cameron Clark, another resident.
Airing at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on Channel 5, the drama premiered earlier this month and follows the lives of fictional Chicago Police Sgt. Hank Voight, played by Jason Beghe, and detectives Erin Lindsay, played by Sophia Bush, and Antonio Dawson, played by Jon Seda.
Crews began setting up near Milwaukee and Wolcott avenues as early as 6 a.m. Monday, according to Andrew Arceo, a clerk at 7-Eleven who had a clear view of the scene through a window overlooking the street.
Arceo said business was "slower than usual" Monday due to the crews in front of the store and a section of Wolcott Avenue blocked to traffic, but he said it wasn't "a big deal."
Though crews could be observed walking in and out of The Savoy at 1408 N. Milwaukee Ave., a worker said the oyster bar and restaurant was only used as a "holding room" for breaks.
A location manager told DNAinfo Chicago that "without giving too much away, it was an emergency scene" for episode 11.
Around 3 p.m. Monday, the cast and crews moved to North Avenue, just west of the Milwaukee, Damen and North avenues intersection.
A man who lives above The Trencherman at 2039 W. North Ave. said that the show was planning to film inside the restaurant.
Bright pink signs on the door of the dark and intimate steam punk-style eatery, once home to a bath house, read "Set."
Trenchermen owners declined to comment, but sent out a tweet Monday.
"Trenchermen will be closed this evening. Our apologies for any inconvenience. We're back at it tomorrow [Tuesday], 5:30 sharp," the restaurant tweeted.
Masada Ramli, owner of Sultan's Market at 2057 W. North Ave., said she didn't mind the film crews parked in front of her restaurant for filming, even though it limited parking options around her restaurant.
"I love Chicago, anything for Chicago," Ramli said, adding that "one day is OK."
