Police arrested four teens, including one who allegedly attacked an officer, after a flash mob incident took place inside the Philadelphia Mills Mall in Northeast Philadelphia Tuesday night.
Police say they were alerted on social media around 2 p.m. Tuesday about a flash mob possibly taking place at the Philadelphia Mills Mall on 1244 Franklin Mills Boulevard. Around 3 p.m. SEPTA buses pulled up to the mall and dropped hundreds of teens off. Some of the teens managed to get into the mall despite efforts from security guards to stop them.
Around 5 p.m. about 90 teens entered the mall's food court and refused to leave while approximately 30 of those teens started fighting, police said. Officers who were assigned to the mall responded to the food court and saw 10 security guards trying to get the teens out. The teens allegedly yelled at the guards and refused to leave. Investigators say the teens also refused to get out after the responding police officers ordered them to leave.
"They started acting disorderly, running around, yelling and screaming and actually getting into physical altercations with security," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
A witness told NBC10 the mall was briefly on lockdown during the ordeal.
"I saw a bunch of people running outside," he said. "There was a bunch of fights starting and people arguing."
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Investigators say one of the officers grabbed a 14-year-old boy who had refused to leave. The teen allegedly yelled, "Get the f*** off of me pigs! You motherf*****s!" Investigators say the teen continued to push back at the officer as he was taken out of the food court.
Investigators say a 17-year-old boy then grabbed the officer around his neck and tried to wrestle him to the ground while ripping his patrol jacket and punching him in the head. As the 17-year-old attacked the officer he yelled, "F*** the police," according to investigators. More officers responded to the scene and placed both teens into custody.
A 15-year-old boy also allegedly punched one of the responding officers in the head. Another officer along with security guards then chased after the teen on foot before placing him into custody, investigators said.
Police also say another 14-year-old boy repeatedly returned to the food court after being told to leave several times and yelled and cursed at the officers. The teen was then placed into custody. As he was being led away, the teen allegedly said, "Why don't you take that uniform off and fight me. I will punch you in your face. Karma is a b**** and you are going to get yours."
The teen also allegedly told police that when he returned to school he would "smack every white kid in the face" because it was a white officer who locked him up. While in custody at the 24th District, the teen allegedly broke free from one of the officers and tried to flee from the cell room but was taken to the ground. At that point, the teen allegedly told officers, "I'm going to blow your head off p****."
All four teens were charged with aggravated assault, criminal trespass, causing/risking catastrophe, criminal mischief, hinder apprehension, simple assault, resisting arrest, failure to disperse and other related offenses.
Police say it took them about two hours to restore the mall's normal operating procedures. They also say between 300 to 400 juveniles took part in the flash mob with some of the teens kicking cars in the parking lot and threatening shoppers at the mall. The general manager of Philadelphia Mills Mall had told her security guards that no one under the age of 18 was allowed inside the mall unless accompanied by an adult.
Several melees and disturbances were reported in malls nationwide on Monday including an incident at the Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey in which someone shouted “gun” during a fight which sparked a panic among shoppers. Investigators have not yet revealed whether Tuesday’s incident at Philadelphia Mills Mall is related to any of the Boxing Day disturbances. Small told NBC10 officers were prepared however because a large group of teens also tried to cause a disturbance at Philadelphia Mills Monday.
"They were ready for these crowds to come up and they were successful in keeping most of the crowd of 200 or so out of the mall," Small said.
Security will be increased at Philadelphia Mills for the rest of the week.
