Published: March 05, 2006 10:51 pm      

Officer injured from brawl at mall

One police officer was injured after a Saturday night 30-person brawl at Crossroads Mall, during which the crowd encouraged shooting and killing police.

Just before 9 p.m. Saturday, a verbal dispute erupted between a teenage boy and a mall security guard after the boy smashed a potato and made a mess he refused to clean up, Deputy J.E. Hajash of the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department said.

The argument then turned into a physical fight between security guards, the boy and two of his friends.

Security guards called Hajash and Cpl. K.D. Harold, who were working as off-duty security, for assistance.

Harold said when the officers arrived, several boys were surrounding the security officer and were cursing at him and acting “totally disorderly.”

The officer pulled one of the boys away and tried to get him under control when the young man began cursing him as well.

When Harold tried to put handcuffs on the boy after telling him he was under arrest for destruction of property and obstructing an officer, he says the youth shoved him and started “swinging,” hitting the officer with his hands and fists.

The incident, Harold said, continued into PacSun, where he and the boy ended up fighting on the floor.

Although he didn’t know at the time, Harold said, he was told by witnesses, between five and eight others jumped on him as well.

“I heard them chanting ‘take the gun and kill him,’” he recalled. “I was struggling to fight them and also had an arm around my gun, hugging it so they couldn’t get it. I didn’t know how many people were on me. I was just trying to stay alive at that point.”

While Harold was inside the store, he said another group continued to fight in the mall, and, according to reports, one of the perpetrators grabbed a pipe, preparing to hit a security guard before a maintenance worker grabbed it from his hands.

Hajash said some of those who were fighting him also reached for his service revolver.

“They were chanting, ‘Take his gun! Take his gun! Kill him! Shoot him with it!’” Hajash said.

Finally, Harold said, a lone citizen stepped up and helped drag some of the bodies off the pile, allowing him to get up and regain his composure.

After he got to his feet, Harold said a lot of those involved ran, but he was able to arrest the boy with whom he had initially scuffled.

Harold said a group of juveniles followed the officers as they walked the youth to the mall security office and began breaking things and knocking items down.

Police escorted a few people outside the mall into the area Harold referred to as the theater pad, and ordered everyone who did not have a ticket for a late movie to leave the mall.

The fighting continued however as items were thrown at police and the crowd and officers received a tip that four carloads of people were coming to join the fight.

“It was completely out of control at that point,” Harold said. “For everyone’s safety, we ordered everyone off the property, including those who were already in the movie theater. We shut the entire place down.”

Backup arrived from the West Virginia State Police and other members of the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department who broke away from a DUI patrol.

Four teenage boys, ages 13-17, were arrested and later released to their parents’ and/or guardians’ custodians, Hajash said. He was confident the main instigators of the brawl were taken into custody. The sheriff’s department will likely pursue juvenile petitions against them.

Although he did not know it at the time, Harold suffered bruises to his ears as well as neck and shoulder injuries.

He was treated at Raleigh General Hospital Sunday morning and will be off work pending a physical therapy consult.

Harold, who says he believes a lot of trouble could be avoided if parents didn’t depend on the mall for child care, said two additional officers have been requested for weekend mall security beginning this weekend.

“I’d really urge parents to not drop their kids off and leave them unattended,” he said. “Parents drop kids off and use the mall as a babysitter,” he said. “That puts big burden on security and the police to make sure everything runs smooth and safe.”

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