Brawl at the Mall

The Hamilton Mall closed one hour early Saturday night because of a large fight that broke out inside, mall officials confirmed Sunday morning. 

The mall re-opened at its regularly scheduled time on Sunday.

The fight was one of three incidents at the mall on Saturday, officials said.

Crystal Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the mall, said the first incident occurred at 4 p.m. outside the mall and involved teenagers. Those teens were escorted off the property, she said. 

At 5:30 p.m. a fight between two females broke out inside the mall. One of the females, who is unidentified because she is a minor, was charged with disorderly conduct, according to the Hamilton Township Police Department. 

The fight at 8 p.m. started in the food court and involved up to 200 people, mostly teenagers, witnesses said.

Police said that chairs and "other debris" were being thrown in the food court while officers were attempting to escort multiple groups of juveniles out of the Hamilton Mall for disorderly conduct. After this, multiple individuals began to engage in several fights.

Five juvenile males and two adult males were arrested as a result of the incident, police said. The adult males, Amir Vaughn, 18, of Mays Landing, and Theron Parrish- Jordan, 18, of Mays Landing, were charged with disorderly conduct.

Charges for the five juvenile males included disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, police said. One Township of Hamilton Police Supervisor was assaulted and sustained minor injuries. More charges could be filed as a result of an ongoing investigation, police said.

Rodriguez said the fight itself only involved a handful of those people, but once it broke out, teenagers started to swarm the area. 

According to witnesses who contacted The Press of Atlantic City and posted updates on social media, store employees throughout the mall were rushing to close and lock their doors as the fight broke out.

"Every cage went down for every store and security guards were telling me that I was going in the wrong direction and they were visibly scared," said Christine Vint Miller, who witnessed the incident. "(I) Kept telling them I need to get to my daughter and Friends....And there they were... Watching from the second floor as the police came in and arrested teens on the first floor. Outside, the ambulances and police were endless."

Witnesses have commented that the fight involved up to 200 people, but that number is not confirmed by authorities. 

Rodriguez said that there was no damage to the mall or any of its stores. No one who was not involved in the fight was injured, she said.

"No one could have predicted that this would happen or that it would escalate to the level that it did," Rodriguez said.

The mall has two or three police officers from the Hamilton Township Police Department stationed at the mall on weekends on top of a full security staff, Rodriguez said. 

"Safety and security is of the utmost importance to the Hamilton Mall," Rodriguez said. "The mall is a place where the community can go shop and have a good time. We want to reiterate that the mall is a safe place to be, and we are working with the local police department on what can be done in the future."

The mall re-opened at 11 a.m. Sunday morning, which is its regularly scheduled re-opening time.

Several police and EMT departments assisted at the scene. They include the New Jersey State Police, Egg Harbor Township Police Department, Egg Harbor City Police Department, Galloway Twp. Police, the Twp. of Hamilton Rescue Squad, and AtlantiCare Paramedics.

 The incident is currently under investigation and additional charges are pending for anyone identified as being involved in the incident. Anyone with information or who has video of the incident is asked to contact Det. Perna at 609-625-2700 x 542 or message the Hamilton Township Police Department on Facebook.

Video taken in the parking lot at
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