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Mall Brawl Prompts Curfew Calls

Monday, July 30, 2007

Lauren Wilson
More: Bio, 6abc.com News Team

CHRISTIANA, Del. - July 30, 2007 (WPVI) -- A fight at a Delaware mall involving hundreds of young people is prompting new calls for a curfew today. The fight near the food court at the Christiana Mall forced the shopping center to shut down early.

It was a mall brawl of epic proportions, and at the height of it police said a thousand kids were going at it in the food court Friday night. Things got so out of hand the Christina Mall closed early and shoppers left in fear.

"An extremely large crowd started to gather and get disorderly. Eventually food was being thrown. Several individual fights broke out and profanities were being yelled across the food court area," explained Sgt. Joshua Bushwell.

Commonly called mall rats, police said unsupervised kids have become a growing problem here.

"It appears as if parents are coming and just dropping their children off and letting them roam the malls unsupervised," said Bushwell.

"Kids have always sought a place where they can hang out together, where they can be among their own, have a little autonomy, and maybe establish an identity of their own, but I guess at some point you need supervision," said Dave Vari of Felton.

17-year-old Chris Cameron said he is a regular at the mall.

"There are times I just walk around with my friends. It is like a hangout for everyone there," said Cameron.

The mall brawl leaves many wondering if its time to implement a curfew here. It has been tried at other malls around the country and some say it might not be a bad idea

A mall spokesperson said the idea is under consideration. The media was banned from the property on Monday and employees were reportedly told not to talk about what happened. In an email, a spokesperson wrote:

"Friday was an isolated incident for Christiana Mall. We're constantly evaluating our safety procedures and policies to ensure we are doing everything within our jurisdiction to keep our shoppers and retailers safe."

No arrests were made after the fight, and there were no reports of injuries. There's also no word on how the mall plans to handle teenagers this weekend.

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