Fights mar post-holiday shopping at malls across US

AURORA, Colo. — Police evacuated a suburban Denver mall Monday after an arrest led to hundreds of young people converging on the site, with several fights breaking out, authorities said.

No one was seriously injured but five juveniles were arrested during the disturbance at the Town Center at Aurora, police spokesman Sgt. Chris Amsler said.

Trouble started during the arrest of a person suspected of fighting and an unruly crowd surrounded the scene, the Aurora officer said.

“As the officer was attempting to escort the arrestee to the Aurora Police Substation inside of the Town Center the crowd continued to advance on the officer and several other fights broke out,” he said.

Police said they suspect that postings on social media drew more people to the site.

“The crowd grew in size to approximately 500 people (mostly juveniles),” Amsler said.

Authorities shut down the mall as dozens of police converged on the scene and worked to restore order.

Amsler said fights continued as the crowd moved into the parking lot area.

The charges against the five people arrested included disorderly conduct, obstruction and resisting arrest.

The disturbance was one of several at shopping malls around the country that disrupted post-Christmas shopping.

Police in Ohio say officers used pepper spray to disperse a large crowd following a fight at an upscale shopping mall.

Cleveland.com reported the fight broke out Monday evening at Beachwood Place mall, prompting a lockdown.

Officers initially responded to the scene for a report of shots fired. Police later confirmed that there were no gunshots.

Fire officials say a man and a police officer were exposed to the pepper spray and received medical treatment. No one else was injured.

Police say a juvenile was taken into custody for assaulting a police officer.

It was not immediately clear what led to the fight.

In North Carolina, another mall was evacuated after a fight sent a crowd of after-Christmas shoppers fleeing.

Fayetteville Police Lt. Todd Joyce says police were called to Cross Creek Mall around 5 p.m. Monday because of a disturbance. He says some teenagers were apparently involved in a fight at the mall.

He said officers found no one injured from the altercation. He says there’s no evidence shots were fired, even though some witnesses thought they heard a gunshot. Witnesses tell media outlets that there was chaos as hundreds tried to flee the mall

Joyce says no arrests have been made, but police are reviewing mall security video to see if charges are warranted.

He says emergency medical personnel were called to assist someone who had a medical episode while fleeing.

And in Connecticut, state and local police responded to a melee and arrested several people.

Authorities say fights broke out Monday evening at The Shoppes at Buckland Hills mall in Manchester. There were no immediate reports of any serious injuries.

Manchester police Capt. Chris Davis posted on his Twitter account that several hundred teenagers were in the mall at the time and there were several fights. He says several people were arrested and the mall was evacuated.

Davis says authorities are still trying to sort out what happened.