Officer Assist Independence Center

[scanrrman]

This fight broke out at Applebee's. Officer assist was called to a large disturbing crowd. Several were maced and tazed and taken into custody.
Audio recording - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=394L7EPI_Zk

[Joe]

This actually made world news.

[crashin]

Even worse that it is on KCTV where they post stuff like this http://www.kctv5.com/video/14936396/index.html
Saying that the police caused the brawl. I have spoken up for some of the things in the past that I think IPD may have been wrong on, but I seriously doubt they started a brawl. This grandmother is the definition of an enabler.<sarcasm> Her girls didn't do anything wrong</sarcasm>

[Joe]

Trying to piece it all together
Police unsure if fights were connected


By Toriano L. Porter | toriano.porter@examiner.net

Independence Police are still connecting the dots today trying to piece together evidence and witnesses' statements about three brawls - including two in Independence - involving large groups of young adults and teenagers.

Officials don't know if all the fights - Christmas evening at the AMC Independence Commons 20 movie theater at 19200 E. 39th St., Christmas evening at Ward Parkway Shopping Center in Kansas City and Wednesday evening at Independence Center - are connected, but hinted Thursday they may be.

"Two of the young ladies involved in Wednesday's fight had an altercation a day before at the Ward Parkway mall," Independence Police spokesperson Tom Gentry said. "There were mostly males fighting at the movie theater, so we don't know if that fight had anything to do with the others."

Wednesday's melee resulted in four arrests, including 20-year-old Ronnell D. Love, who was charged with disorderly conduct and 17-year-old Chereyl M. White, who was charged with interfering with police.

Two juveniles who were arrested were released to the custody of their parents after they were referred to Jackson County Family Court. Other possible charges against Love and White, including assault, are still pending, Gentry said.

Police officers from Independence used Taser guns on two to three suspects after security officers at Independence Center used pepper spray to subdue a crowd of 20 to 30 young adults outside the mall's entrance near Applebee's.

"We have seen an increase in the last couple of years in disorderly conduct at the mall," Gentry said, adding the closure of Bannister Mall a few years ago has made the Independence Center a magnet for teenagers and young adults from Kansas City.

The four people arrested Wednesday were all from Kansas City.

"We are going to step up our presence at the center," Gentry said, "not only for the mall's employees and shoppers, but for those young people as well. We will not allow Independence to be an attractive place for nuisance."

Ryan Oester, director of mall marketing for Simon Property Group, which operates Independence Center, said Wednesday's altercation was unfortunate for holiday shoppers and casual observers.

He said the mall is committed to providing a safe, quality shopping environment for shoppers and has a strict policy on loitering.

"Whenever an incident like this occurs in our community, our primary concern is always for the safety and well-being of our shoppers and mall employees," Oester said in a statement.

"To do this, we take several proactive security measures, including maintaining a continuous security patrol both inside and outside of the mall, posting our code of conduct at all our mall entrances and enforcing a no loitering policy among teenage youth."

In Tuesday's altercation at AMC Theater, at least two adults and one juvenile were arrested, including Anthony R. Hawkins and Jamal M. Jackson, both of Kansas City, who were charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with police.

The juvenile was released to the custody of his parents after being referred to Jackson County Family Court.

According to police officials, that brawl broke out around 11 p.m. inside the theater and spilled to the outside, Several theatergoers participated in the brawl, officials said.

Officers from Kansas City, Raytown, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit and the Missouri State Highway Patrol all responded to help Independence Police bring the situation under control. No injuries were reported.

[Blueshockeyfan]

I read in the Examiner that mall security pepper sprayed a crowd of 20-30 people and that’s when things really got crazy. Whether it was 2-3 or 20-30 doesn't matter. They still didn't act appropriately. That's why they got sprayed. But again IPD gets blamed for something someone else did.

One thing is for sure, if no one was there when the police arrived none of this would have happened. It's one thing for people to disagree and maybe even duke it out. It's a different thing when they, along with people who were supposedly not involved, stick around until the police get there and refuse to do as they are instructed. Sounds like they were looking for trouble.

My personal opinion is that this tv5 news story with the grandmother is just another case of someone who is going to cry racism. My guess is that we will hear about the lawsuit in a couple days.

How about raising responsible adults, who have respect for themselves and decency toward other people, instead of trying to get paid for being irresponsible?

[NBW791]

I can't stand KCTV5. Geez......

And 2 kids jumping on the police to get them to stop... ....yeah, that was smart.

[clark1]

I read in the Examiner that mall security pepper sprayed a crowd of 20-30 people and that’s when things really got crazy. Whether it was 2-3 or 20-30 doesn't matter. They still didn't act appropriately. That's why they got sprayed. But again IPD gets blamed for something someone else did.

One thing is for sure, if no one was there when the police arrived none of this would have happened. It's one thing for people to disagree and maybe even duke it out. It's a different thing when they, along with people who were supposedly not involved, stick around until the police get there and refuse to do as they are instructed. Sounds like they were looking for trouble.

My personal opinion is that this tv5 news story with the grandmother is just another case of someone who is going to cry racism. My guess is that we will hear about the lawsuit in a couple days.

How about raising responsible adults, who have respect for themselves and decency toward other people, instead of trying to get paid for being irresponsible?

Is pepper spray legal in your country? What i know is , its an illegal weapon. If it's legal i want to have that soon.