CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Police are trying to figure out what brought more than 100 teens to Severance Town Center where a riot broke out over the weekend.
More than 100 teens converged on the Wal-Mart at the shopping center Sunday evening, some taking bicycles off the wall and riding them in the aisles. Then the crowd moved to the nearby Regal Cinema where other teens joined them and a melee broke out.Six girls, ages 15 and 16, were arrested and charged with aggravated rioting, Chief Martin Lentz said.
Lentz said this is what happened:
A manager at the Wal-Mart on Mayfield Road called police at 8:42 p.m. and said there were more than 100 teens in the store. They were riding the display bicycles in the aisles and creating chaos.
When officers arrived, more than 100 teens poured out of the store and gathered at the Regal Cinema, where they shoved through a line of customers and entered the lobby.
One girl struck another girl with her purse and a fight broke out among six girls. As officers arrested the girls, other fights broke out. One of the officers was pushed into a wall and injured his wrist.
Officers asked for assistance from Shaker Heights, South Euclid and University Heights police. It took 90 minutes to disperse the crowd as it splintered into smaller groups and fanned out.
“Something organized occurred,” Lentz said, “because the arrested girls were from different cities.”
Two live in Cleveland. The four others live in Maple Heights, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland.
A similar incident happened Tuesday in Philadelphia as more than 100 teens became unruly at a Macy’s department store and 14 were arrested, according to reports. Investigators there told reporters they believe the gathering was organized over the Internet.
