Video shows police response to juvenile chaos near Baltimore County shopping mall
Video filmed by Turnbull Brockmeyer Law Firm shows multiple teens on the ground getting handcuffed in the parking lot after disturbances near the White Marsh Mall in Baltimore County on Saturday night.
Several of the teens are facing charges, which include assault, trespassing, and disorderly conduct.
Baltimore County Police said the incident was the result of a pre-planned "link up" on social media.
It seemed to have been one of many planned meet-ups over the weekend. The mall is Salisbury, Maryland, along the Eastern Shore, closed early because of the disturbances.
Mall chaos
A convenience store owner in the mall, who didn't want to be identified, said it was chaos.
Police have not released much details, but they said there was "a disturbance" at the mall that resulted in multiple juvenile arrests.
"I saw that the police was there but I don' t think even though police was there, the kids think they don't care. They'll do what they want to do," the shop owner said.
County leader addresses mall security concerns
Baltimore County County Councilman David Marks told WJZ that police and mall security have been increased to mitigate any issues by upping police and mall security in the area.
"We need to have a culture that expects consequences for bad behavior, for deviant behavior," Marks said. "And, you know, until we start fostering that sense of consequences, it's going to be a lot tougher to enforce the law."
Councilman Marks plans to discuss the concerns at Tuesday night's White Marsh Police and Community Relations Council meeting.
That meeting can be viewed here.
Mall shoppers say disturbances are "jarring"
Until something is done, shoppers say they might not visit the mall anymore.
"I used to come to this mall as a little kid and it was just kind of jarring to hear that all of a sudden all of this is going on and I don't know if it's because of Tik Tok or what," shopper Meghan Galliher said. "Kids need some place to go but this is not it."
WJZ reached out to the White Marsh Mall for comment but have not yet heard back.
