A large group of teens accused of causing a disturbance inside a Sylvania Township Walmart early Tuesday morning may be charged with disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.
Twenty-four people, mostly between the ages of 13 and 18, are listed as possible suspects in a disturbance at the 5821 W. Central Ave. store in which a group of teens with selfie sticks and phone cameras were recording themselves knocking over property, a Sylvania Township police report shows.
The teens reportedly walked through freshly waxed floors, knocked over pallets of freight, and rode electric scooters into fixtures while throwing merchandise on the floor, the report said. No damages or thefts were reported, but charges are pending review of the surveillance video, according to the report.
Copies of that video were not available Tuesday. A Walmart spokesman said it provides video only to law enforcement; Sylvania Township police officials said they have not requested the video.
A Walmart employee told police the group was “destroying the store and video recording it.” The employee said she asked the teens to leave, but they continued to cause havoc on the way out, including knocking the doors off the track “and calling me a cracker,” the police report said.
The incident apparently was spurred by a Facebook event post in which people were instructed to meet at various area Walmarts as well as the Steak ‘n Shake at 2141 S. Reynolds Rd.
Holland Police Chief Robert Reed said that after the incident at the Central Avenue Walmart, they were tipped off that teens were heading to the Walmart at 1355 S. McCord Rd. Officers were there waiting.
“Nothing happened here, we stopped it,” Chief Reed said. “When they saw all the police sitting there waiting for them, half of them left.”
Police said the disturbance has been improperly labeled by some as a flash mob, a group of people that performs a seemingly random act — usually a song or dance.
First Published July 30, 2019, 7:42 p.m.
