Detroit residents rush to store for free grocery giveaway: "I was very thankful"

A grocery store on Detroit's east side was packed Monday after word spread that the store was giving out free groceries.

The crowds at Mike's Fresh Market on Seven Mile Road and Gratiot grew so large that police were called in to help control the sudden influx of shoppers.

"Oh my God, when everybody got here, they were scattered around like ants," said shopper Marshae Heath.

Heath described what sounded like Black Friday shopping back in the day. Heath said she got a deal that was too good to be true: $7,500 worth of food, completely free, filling up three cars.

"You had to get what you get. There were no buggies; people started opening garbage bags, it was just crazy. I was very thankful," said Heath.

While the store owner did not let the CBS News Detroit crew inside, he said that the event was made possible by Fifth Third Bank.

Detroit police and security assisted with traffic flow, preventing any additional shoppers from entering the grocery store. Shoppers who made it to the event say they had been there for hours. One of them is Dwight Klingman's grandson

"Well, we live around the corner, so my grandson asked me to drop him off. I couldn't walk around the store, so I didn't go in," said Klingman.

He says his grandson shopped for him and a couple of other family members. But he wasn't a fan of some of the shoppers' strategies.

"Just because it's free, doesn't mean you overdo it, most people I see came out and overdid it and got stuff they won't even be able to use and to me that's not right," said Klingman.